Personal relationship with Martin sealed Wood’s Saints move

Nathan Wood completed his Southampton move yesterday and immediately showed his appreciation for Saints boss Russell Martin, the man that bought him to Swansea two years ago.

Wood was courted by Southampton last season but the Swans hold onto their central defender despite that interest but the continual influence of Martin on the player was clear after he completed the move yesterday that was declared as for an “undisclosed fee”.

That fee is believed to include a sell on clause to Middlesbrough from whom the Swans signed Wood in 2022 and is also anticipated should include some further clauses that could increase the fees in years to come.   Or at least that is certainly something that you hope we have done give the high regard in which the manager at St Mary’s has for the defender.

Wood revealed that he has kept in touch with Martin in the twelve months since he departed the Swans and that it was that relationship that made the decision to leave the Swans an easy one.

“We had a good relationship, so we kept in touch through the past year, and when the phone call came and it was like, ‘we want you to come’, it was easy really,” the defender said upon completing the move.

“It’s massive. I think any player would say it’s a big thing when you know you’ve got someone that believes in you – someone that’s going to give you the chance and improve you as a player and as a person.

“I think that was one of the big things at Swansea – I was moving away for the first time, properly away from home, so I had to get used to living five hours away from home.

“Obviously I improved on the pitch massively in those 40 games, but it was more off the pitch where the big difference was. We had a great group of lads at Swansea, but I think that filtered down from the way the manager set standards, and the environment.”

There are more than some quarters that would suggest that the keeping in touch with the player was certainly not helpful for the Swans last term and it is probably a reasonably safe guess to assume that his head was turned not long after Martin joined up with the Saints last summer.  Of course that is reasonably common place within football but the departure of Wood was probably reasonably inevitable given the interest and input from his former manager.

Wood’s admiration for that former manager was shown further as he added “It’s the best type of football, I think. For me, personally, I think I enjoyed my football the most in that one season at Swansea with the gaffer.

“It’s enjoyable to watch, it’s enjoyable to play in, and I’m just looking forward to seeing how it goes in the Prem. I think it’s going to be exciting.

“To implement the way we want to play, that’s a big thing for the manager – he’s not going to change the way he is – and to really put our mark on the league.

“I think the main focus is just to get the best out of myself and everyone else around me every day, and I’m sure we will succeed.”

Wood’s departure from the Swans leaves a gap at the back that is expected to be filled by a move into the transfer market from the Swans.  Whilst a central defender was probably not high on the list of expected moves this summer, Williams will be reluctant to go with just two main options at the back and will want to bring in someone who can compete in that area.    It has been suggested to us that a second season for Bashir Humphreys is not completely out of the question but my personal preference would be moving for someone who is our own player and who can develop a market value over a couple of years in the same way that Wood did for us.

Key here though for the Swans is that the departure of Wood has given us additional transfer and wage funds to add to the already set summer budgets and that is something that cannot be seen as a bad thing.