Huw reported to have met with Ivorian striker's representatives today
There's been a lot of talk that the Swans' chairman has today tried to iron out the finer details of a £10.2million transfer for Wilfried Bony, in what had started to look like the typical protracted Swansea transfer saga. Thankfully, it appears that won't now be the case, as if a bidding war had broken out you can bet your bottom dollar Huw would have got on the first plane home (if he allows himself the frivolity of air travel) and wouldn't dream of moving from what he felt was a fair price.
I get the feeling that all of the stories we've seen in the last two days regarding other strikers we may make moves for have been serving a purpose, and that purpose was to let Vitesse know we weren't going to stand around while they waited for a bigger offer from, say, Newcastle or Chelsea. The player himself has come out and said he wants to join the Swans, and with everything pointing to this being tied up soon we could well be seeing a new addition being unveiled very shortly.
If this comes off, Huw will have played a blinder.
Tom Ince latest player to attraction the Swans' attention
Skysports are reporting that we're now involved in a battle for the signature of Tom Ince, who's currently playing for his father at Blackpool. That lends nicely to some mad quotes, the type of which you don't see that often:
"Cardiff have come in massively for Thomas and the chairman has accepted their offer, but Thomas loves it here and has told me he's in no rush to leave the club.
"I think it's 50/50 at the moment. It's a tricky one for me. Ideally you want your son to be playing in the Premier League, but you also want him to be playing for you." Blackpool boss Paul Ince
I'd say the Swans must surely be a more attractive opposition than Cardiff, despite all the money that's been spend on Cardiff Bay over the last decade, and if we match their offer you'd be fairly confident that (if Ince wants a transfer) we'd get the man. The Independent seem to think between Ince and Bony we'll be spending £20million, so the fee for a player who last year set the Championship alight could well be more than the £8million which was reported as the going rate a few weeks ago.
I for one was a little disappointed we weren't going after Ince earlier in the summer, as I felt he was one of, if not the outstanding player in the Championship last season - and what's more one who's ideally suited to playing for the Swans. Fast, tricky and eager to break the line, he'd rejuvenate a forward line that seemed to lack a spark towards the end of last season, and with the possibility of Bony charging around the place too we could well see a vastly changed Swansea attacking unit. Ince, Routledge, Hernandez, Bony, Michu, anyone? Yes please!