Midfielder back in full training, but faces increased competition for places ahead of next season
After playing through the pain barrier for his beloved Swansea City, Leon Britton was back working in the gym three weeks ago when most of his contemporaries were sunning themselves in various far-flung locations around the globe.
After suffering from a double hernia (which was, apparently, only minor) Britton underwent surgery in Germany which was so precise and advanced he was able to walk following the procedure, and only a few weeks later he feels he's getting back to his best ahead of pre-season kicking off this week.
“I had the operation three-and-a-half weeks ago in Germany, done by a lady over there who is world renowned. It went well and literally six days later I was back on the training ground working on building up the muscles around the area where it’s been repaired.
“I’ve been in training for the last two weeks really and on the training pitch the last three days, running, twisting and turning like we’d normally do. I’m pretty much fully fit.” Leon Britton
One aspect of Swansea's summer that hasn't been given much attention thus far, however, is the increased competition for places any central midfielder will face in SA1 this year.
In signing Canas and re-signing JDG, straight away we have four dedicated central midfielders (along with Leon and Ki) but yet rumours persist that we're also involved in discussions over Jonjo Shelvey, something Huw Jenkins confirmed in the Evening Post this morning. Honestly? I'm really not enthused about the prospect of spending several millions pounds on Shelvey, having never seen him play well, however I'm no expert so what do I know.
Actually, what I do know is that if, as reported, we sign a striker then one of the three midfield berths will likely be occupied by Michu for large swathes of the season, adding increased competition for the remaining places, and when you consider Alejandro Pozuelo is also heavily rumoured to be finalising a move to the Liberty, things are starting to look a little overloaded in the middle of the park. Don't forget we're also prone to playing with three wingers, so there's not even a guarantee that if Michu isn't at CAM there'll be a traditional central midfielder occupying that position on the field - competition indeed.
It seems likely that Kemy Augustien has had one chance too many at the Swans, and after years of wishing him well I'd no have no problem with seeing him move on. He's struggled with injury but more importantly it seems his discipline isn't quite there, and any "professional athlete" who goes out drinking with the club's biggest rivals less than 48 hours before a match he could well be playing in doesn't get my vote.
One thing is for sure, it's going to be hard to predict the makeup of our engine-room this season.