If forum gossip is to believed, a deal which sees him join us in January may already have been agreed
Conflicting reports, people. If I'm honest, my head is telling me there's nothing in this but a few people seem to be of the belief that, contrary to reports in the Blackpool media, Tom Ince is willing to make the move to South Wales after all - a few months on from knocking back our beloved mates in blue and red up the road.
Whether or not you choose to believe this kind of thing depends on your glass-half-full attitude I'd imagine. It's all stemmed from forum chit-chat if truth be told, but that hardly disqualifies it from the realms of truth, as numerous stories have started out amongst fans before indeed being proven to be accurate. Personally, as much as I want this to be true I'm struggling to believe it.
The Swans have operated in a financially cautious way for so long now, that after our summer spending I simply cannot see us agreeing to pay £7million in January for anyone. When you couple that with the fact that Ince's contract is up this summer, it seems even more unlikely that Huw would stump up that kind of cash for a player who isn't yet proven at the top level. It's a lot of money to spend on a player who could, unless he sets the Premier League alight, end up being another squad rotation winger.
Dyer cost £400k, Routledge £1.5million - ok, so Pablo cost £5million but if you look past his injury record the guy is a)class and b) has some serious pedigree. £7million for Ince shows the inflated nature of the British market perfectly, as well as highlighting how the current transfer window system can conspire to eke out a bit more cash from the buying club.
If it was a loan with a view to buy in the summer I'd understand it more, and who knows - it could well be. In the meantime, however, I'm off to look at his stats so far this season. Tom Ince - let's see your numbers...