Blackpool get Kyle as part of Yates transfer

There is probably no real surprise to seeing Kyle Joseph leave the Swans this season although it was not widely expected that it would be part of a deal that would see the Swans land their own new striker.

With Joel Piroe set to leave this summer it was always widely expected that the Swans would move for a new striker and therefore the news on Monday night that we had agreed a deal for Jerry Yates was not a major surprise although the size of the fee would have raised a few eyebrows.

That fee – quoted to be £2.5m – indicated to many that the deal to sell Piroe may have been closer than had been reported but the amount of the fee will have been reduced (albeit not dramatically) by the fact that Kyle Joseph appears to be going to Blackpool as part of the deal.

The move – reported by Football Insider – will end Joseph’s time in SA1 but it was expected to end this summer anyway given his very limited game time at the club.   A loan spell at Oxford last season certainly drew its plaudits and with Blackpool facing up to a season in League One following relegation this could be a perfect fit for them as they prepare for life without their top scorer of last season.

The Swans beat off reported interest from Tottenham Hotspur when they signed Joseph from Wigan in 2021 but his only start in a Swansea shirt came just a few months later in the EFL cup during a 4-1 win over Plymouth – a game in which he was substituted after 78 minutes.

A loan spell at Cheltenham followed that season before last season’s move to Oxford as it became clearer that he was not part of Russell Martin’s plans and, so it seems, he remains not a part of the plans of Michael Duff.

Joseph was open to what the future may hold when he returned from Oxford at the end of last season and he told the Oxford Mail at the time “I’ll think about what I’ll do next season, and see what Swansea say.

“It’s been really good development-wise and living away from home again.

“All that experience helps you, it’s how you live your day-to-day life away from home – you’ve got to live for yourself and do the right things.

“I’ve relished that and it’s been good for me, a season on loan getting games and goals, and that’s what I wanted to do at the beginning of the season.

“They’re happy with the development bit of it and how it’s gone.  I’ve got games and a good full season under my belt.

“I got injured and that hampered a bit of it but it was about getting games and getting goals.

“We’ll assess it in the summer and see where it goes from there.”

And where it goes from there appears to be Blackpool.