Leeds United promotion would benefit the Swans in Piroe deal

When Joel Piroe moved to Leeds United last summer then it was done firstly to try and help balance the books at Swansea and that balancing of the books could be helped again at the end of this season if Leeds are successful in their play off campaign.

A third place finish was not what they wanted at Elland Road but it means that the door remains open for promotion although they must go through the trauma of a play off campaign first if they are to return to the Premier League from which they were relegated last season.

That campaign starts on Sunday lunchtime when they travel to Norwich for the first leg of their play off semi final with the second leg scheduled for Elland Road a week today.   The winners of that semi final will face the winners of the Southampton v West Brom clash for a place in the Premier League when the final takes place on 26th May.

Should it prove to be Leeds that are successful then it is reported that the Swans will benefit to the tune of as much as £3m thanks to a sell on clause that was in the deal for Piroe last summer.

Wales Online report: “The exact make-up of the deal taking Joel Piroe to west Yorkshire, believed to be worth an initial £12m, still isn’t clear, but it’s understood that one of the add-ons is dependent on promotion to the Premier League. Indeed sources close to the deal have previously indicated that the return of top-flight football at Elland Road could be worth as much as £3million to the Swans.”

With the Swans needing substantial overhaul to the playing squad this summer any level of windfall will be well received so there is probably little doubt that those controlling the purse strings will be hopeful of a Leeds promotion to trigger that income.

Financially the club have been losing serious money for a few years now and have relied heavily on summer transfer sales to prop that up.   With many of our squad last season being loan players or out of contract those options are very limited this summer so any financial boost will be welcomed.

Ironically it could be that with promotion Leeds may look to move Piroe on but it won’t be before that clause is triggered and paid.

The Swans themselves struggled this season to replace the goals that Piroe gave to the team during his two years in SA1 and will be on the hunt again for a striker this summer “We have a lot of players to bring in, for sure,” said boss Luke Williams when asked of the summer transfer plans.

“We’ve come a long way from the beginning of my reign here. We take the ball off the opposition pretty well and we’re able to build up well with the ball and get to the final third but we need to find more solutions to scoring goals.”