Trio of signatures announced while rumours persist of a big money bid for Jonjo Shelvey
One of the more low-key stories of the transfer window so far was that Swansea were looking to sign Alejandro Pozuelo from Real Betis, after his contract (kind of) came to an end. Betis disputed this (they had an automatic one year extension they felt he'd triggered) but in the end he got his way as long as the Swans paid around £500k, and so we've picked up a once-highly-rated midfielder for next to nothing.
Pozuelo can play as an attacking midfielder or a striker, and will add another option to the Swans forward line. A tricky operator (read an in depth profile of him here), he lost his way at Betis but hopefully with a few positive influences around him in the Swans dressing room we'll see the best of him. For a player who was once linked with Barcelona and Manchester United, half a million could prove to be a real bargain.
Youngsters Zabret & Gogic sign on
As previously mentioned, the Swans had taken Slovenian 17-year-old goalkeeper Gregor Zabret on trial in January, and he's now chosen to sign a deal with the Swans, knocking back offers from Sporting Lisbon and West Brom. How times have changed. He's played quite a few games for NK Domzale who finished 3rd in the Slovenian league last season, so he's already had a lot of game time for someone his age, and hopefully he can kick on and prove to be an astute acquisition.
Midfielder Gogic, 19, signed from Olympiakos and no fee was mentioned on the official site. A fairly thorough search online only tells me what we already know from the club statement (that he's a Cyprus U21 international) and this one's going to have to be a case of "the proof is in the pudding" as no-one seems to know much about the kid. Good luck to both of them as they look to embark on a new chapter in their careers.
Swansea have £6million bid for Shelvey accepted, according to The Guardian & The Telegraph
Wow. So, at present (if true), Jonjo Shelvey could be our new record signing. I have to say, I'm really not up for that. The guy cost Liverpool £1.7million, and from what I've seen has done nothing to indicate he's now worth more than that, so for his price to more than triple seems frankly ludicrous. If we were signing him for £2million, or even on loan, I'd have much less of a problem with this, but unless he's been deliberately playing badly for Liverpool there's no way he justifies that transfer fee. Yesterday I put together a statistical profile of him (read it here) with the hope of convincing myself he's a rough diamond, however if anything it just reinforced my belief he's not worth the money.
Whether there's any truth in this we'll have to wait and see, but as WalesOnline pointed out it's widely accepted Shelvey was turned down as part of the Joe Allen transfer when offered in part exchange, so to now be throwing money at him seems daft. One saving grace is that Crystal Palace are also in for him, so hopefully he'll recognise he's more likely to gain regular playing time in London than in South Wales. There is the possibility that, with Allen costing £15million on top of the money agreed for Rodgers and his backroom staff, Liverpool still owe us a chunk of cash which they're hoping to cancel out by selling us Shelvey. Even if true, I still don't think that makes sense. Pozuelo cost £500k, for chrissake!
As I've stated often of late though, what do I know? I'm just a fan, and I could well go on to be eating my words as Shelvey turns into the new Frank Lampard...