Talented Birmingham youngster has attracted a crowd of admirers
As alluded to recently, it's nice to get the opportunity to talk about something other than all that blasted speculation surrounding Laudrup's future. This story first appeared a couple of weeks ago, but yesterday the Daily Mail reported that the Swans are tracking Redmond and that Kyle Bartley may be used as a makeweight in the transfer, possibly on loan. It wasn't long ago that the young Birmingham winger was being touted as a £10million player, and that the fee mentioned by Chris Wathan in the WalesOnline article is only £3million stunned me somewhat. If that's the going rate, and if we can further reduce that by offering Bartley (who doesn't seem to be in the manager's plans despite impressing last season) then that is an absolute steal which would represent fantastic value for money - and we know how much the Swans like that.
Still only 19 (he's not 20 until March), Redmond impressed despite England's catastrophic showing in the recent U21 Championship, and he's continued to forge a reputation for himself as a great prospect. The low asking price is simply a result of him only having one year left on his contract, and can't be seen as an indication of the level of player we could be getting. I thought it would be interesting to see how he compared to our existing wingers, so I've had a look at his stats for last season. Ok, he played in the Championship but attacking potency tends to shine through, so I did a bit of digging.
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| Redmond in action for Birmingham |
Redmond played 38 times in the league last season, with 16 of those appearances off the bench, and at times I think (from what I saw of Birmingham) that his style wasn't necessarily suited to the football they were playing. Redmond is a baller, and likes to get the ball down and play. He did only manage 2 goals (Routledge had 5, Pablo & Dyer 3) and 6 assists (Pablo had 6, Dyer & Routledge both had 4) last term, and attempts 1.31 shots per game (slightly shy of Dyer on 1.4 & Pablo 1.6), with exactly half of those shots on target. Obviously, his conversion isn't great with 25 shots on target and 2 goals, however he's still young and you'd have to assume he'll improve given time and better facilities/players around him.
In terms of ball retention it's hard to find any stats below PL level. If I find any I'll update this article but there's only so much I can find if I'm honest. As stated, if the price being mooted is correct I think this would be an absolute bargain, and another terrific bit of business for the Swans. Is there anything in this? Chris Wathan seemed to think so when talking to TalkSport today, but there's been no official comment from the club so it's likely that, as usual, the Swans will do all of their business behind closed doors.
Should the Swans sign Nathan Redmond? Is £3million a fair price? Let me know your views by tweeting me @TheSwanseaWay or by commenting below this blog!