Swansea City’s transfer summer begins to take shape

We may already not be at the end of May and there may yet be some time before the transfer window actually takes place but there is already plenty of activity going on behind the scenes in SA1 as the importance of the summer transfer window this year is clear to those that need to make the decisions.

The release of the retained list a week or so back came on the back of new one year deals for Kyle Naughton and Joe Allen whilst the club had taken options on both Liam Cullen and Nathan Wood to extend their contracts by a further twelve months.  However, they are also more than aware that there could be bids for Wood this summer and that the reality of previous poor windows is that he is one of just a few players who could attract interest from elsewhere.  Or, to put it more specifically, one of a few players who could bring in sufficient revenue to support the transfer budget we need from within the squad.

In past years we have had the luxury of a Piroe, Downes, James or Rodon to prop up any summer transfer activity needed but we also know that the majority ownership have delivered multiple dreadful windows of activity that have relied too heavily on loan players but also some purchases for sizeable amounts of money who just simply do not fit into the Swansea City side.   The reliance of data seems to have taken over the logic of common sense on some occasions and that is a habit that both Andy Coleman and Paul Watson have to be determined to break this summer if they want to give Luke Williams a squad that at least has a chance of competing next season.

That determination has already led to the club working out – with Williams we hasten to add – their key targets for the summer.   In those instances enquiries will have already been made to representatives at least but also to clubs in some cases.   All parties involved from our side know that transfer discussions can run on for some time which is a simple case of working on a principle that the earlier to start the earlier to are likely to finish although it is still fully anticipated that the drive to bring in new players will carry on until the closure of the window a few weeks into the new season.

There is also an acceptance behind the closed doors of Fairwood and the Swansea.com Stadium that we have to reduce our reliance on loan players especially as this just adds to the summer pressure and it will not have gone unnoticed that the loaning last season of Bashir Humphreys, Harrison Ashby, Charlie Patino and others would not have been a roaring success.   The opposite of course can be said of Carl Rushworth who picked up a hat-trick of player of the year awards at the ceremony at the end of the season and it has not gone unnoticed that the Swans social media team are still talking up Rushworth with a series of videos on his performances.  Are they dropping a clear hint in front of the eyes of supporters that he could be a Swansea City player again next season?  Don’t rule it out, the social media team have certainly been a high spot in recent years and that would be right in line with their style.

The name of MacAulay Langstaff has been linked already and it is still strongly suggested that he is the man that Luke Williams has chosen to make a key target for the summer.  There is so much logic in why this would be the case that the biggest surprise would almost be that we didn’t at least try and make a move for him.   The club are certainly making a striker one of their big priorities for the summer and Langstaff knows where the goal is – something that wasn’t that obvious with our striking options last season.   With Williams knowing him well from their time at Notts County then a move here would make sense and it could well be the case that some level of discussions have already taken place.

Keeping on the theme of Notts County, many of the assists for Langstaff’s goals have come from Jodi Jones.  Jones was linked back in the January window.  A record breaking twenty-four assists last season will not just have grabbed the attention of the Swans but other clubs certainly at our level as well will have taken notice of (ironically) the data that sits behind the name of Jones.   Could Williams have asked Coleman and Watson to try and make a double raid on Notts County?  Don’t completely rule that out as a possibility although it would take a chunk of our transfer budget to pull off the move but I suspect that both players would grasp the opportunity to try their skills at the Championship level and the pull of their former boss maybe one that appeals equally highly to them.

Elsewhere we know a midfielder is needed.   Williams will be as aware as anyone that the Swans midfield functions better when Joe Allen is in it but we all know that Joe – for all his good qualities – is not someone who can play ninety minutes too often in a season so we need a new younger version of Joe Allen.  As would most other clubs in the Championship so our options there are limited.   There will be possibilities thrown around though and certainly names that we would not expect at the moment.   The Swans pulled off a good January move in finding Ronald which begs the question as to whether they are already looking abroad for a potential midfield option.

Rushworth (or an alternative keeper), Langstaff, Jones and a midfielder would represent the basis of a good summer of activity and the Swans should certainly – after last summer’s disaster – focus on the quality of the signings more than the quantity of them.   Four signings alone though would not be enough but the addition of a couple of good academy youngsters of ours to the squad and a couple of additional squad signings to give us more strength in depth will back up our “marquee” moves.   The problem is at the moment we do not know the depth of the discussions we have had on our key targets (and with relevant people close to them) already and being a key target does not automatically mean you turn into a key signing.  Especially with our record of transfer negotiations over the past five years or so.

The Swans will utilise the loan market again this season we can have no doubt of that at all but we need to make sure that the loan players we bring in add something to the squad that is missing and are not just here to make up the numbers.  Whilst we can see why we loaned the likes of Humphreys, Ashby and Patino last summer we have to wonder why we even bothered with Sago Jr in the January window – did he actually even exist was a common question!  The challenge of course with a loan player is you don’t actually know if they will benefit you or be a Championship player until they are here so it’s a free pass to the club on the reasons behind the three most mentioned here but  reduction on the reliance on them to boost our signings is needed.

These early stages of the close season are always quiet in terms of actual rumours and links of players but that should never be mistaken as a sign that nothing is happening behind the scenes.   The contact lines out of the Swansea.com Stadium will have been busy these last few weeks (and even before the season ended) and discussions will have taken place no matter how tentative they are.   The results of some of this activity will become clear in the first few weeks of the window and Williams will have been relatively clear that he needs our key signings of the summer to be in place to get a pre-season with the squad and not just jettisoned in in the last few days of the window.   Delivery of that requirement is as key as any other one that we have this summer.