Another twist in Piroe tale – is a sale back on?

Reports last weekend were very much suggesting that Joel Piroe was on the verge of signing a new contract at Swansea but it now seems that this is not so much the case with a sale very much still on the cards and could even see Russell Martin make a second move on SA1 to add to our transfer budget.

With yesterday’s news that Nathan Wood was a target for Southampton it could well be that he still wants Piroe at St Mary’s although that seems almost certain to be dependent on Che Adams moving on before the end of the transfer window.

Leeds United are still reported in more than one place as being interested in Piroe but we still remain at the stage as we head towards the last week of the window that there have been no formal bids in the window to date.   The Swans will be keen to see that change – assuming it is going to – to allow them time to move on with new targets as the belief is very much that we will move to replace Piroe should the forward move on before the end of the window.

The club are still keen to make the new contract happen but it is clear at the moment that Piroe is very much keeping his options open, as is his right, in this being the closing stages of the transfer window.

So what would happen if Piroe does move on?  As stated above the club will very much look to a replacement and targets will have been discussed in that eventuality.   Much of whether we proceed with those targets will remain on when any deal is done for Piroe.   Players we are currently discussing will be under interest from elsewhere and neither Watson or Duff will want to be in a place where a sale is agreed but their preferred targets are playing elsewhere.

The Swans have already been linked with a move for Kienan Davis which was thought to be a loan deal although reports this week suggested that he was close to a permanent deal with Hull City.  Tigers owner Acun Ilicali said “I can say that these are top, top players. I am using all of my efforts to finish these deals. With Davis, we came to a remarkable point in the transfer.”

The transfer has not yet been completed though and that leaves a door open for the Swans should they choose to follow it.   A permanent deal could also be an option for us if we did have some Piroe money (and Wood?) in our back pocket.

Another player linked previously was Everton striker Tom Cannon.  He has been linked with Preston and looked set for a move last week but again this is one that has not been completed and reports on this suggest that the transfer has not been handled well and it is in doubt.  Sunderland, Leeds and Sampdoria are also clubs linked with Cannon and at the moment he does not see that much of a viable option for the Swans but, as we have said before, strange things can happen in the last week of a window.

Both of these players are previous links for the Swans with both actually on our radar as a club before the arrival of either Watson or Duff.   The arrival of both will have also bought a list of fresh targets, some known, some not as well and, as Duff said last week, we think of several options in each position when approaching a potential transfer.

There have been other links in this window and we should not lose sight of the fact that both Jerry Yates and Mykola Kuharevich have both arrived in SA1 this summer which could even see us using those two as our main options up front.

Whatever we decide – or more importantly maybe whatever Piroe decides – over the course of the next week or so, this particular chapter is not yet closed and we wait to see exactly how it does finish.