Protracted transfer saga seems to be drawing to a close
Tom Ince likes a road trip eh? Since speaking to the Swans he's been in talks with Stoke, Hull, Sunderland and Crystal Palace, which for a player whose main priority must surely be putting himself in the shop window,seems a strange way of going about it. OK, his name has been in the press a lot of late as a result (indeed I'm writing about it now), however this drawn-out affair is getting dangerously close to the point where it's damaging his reputation. A proportion of the Blackpool fanbase have been questioning his attitude and work-rate of late, and it's also affected Swansea fan's opinions too.
Yesterday I thought it would be interesting to see what the general consensus was, so on Twitter I asked the following question:
Seems a fair proportion of the Jack army don't really want Tom Ince now. Would you like him to join on loan? RT for yes, favourite for no!
— The Swansea Way (@TheSwanseaWay) January 29, 2014
As you can see, it's split almost perfectly down the middle (albeit from a fairly small sample of the Jack Army), but personally I still think he'd be a good addition on loan. What's confusing me though is that it seems all of the clubs he's been to visit already have their maximum allocation of domestic loans - ok, Steve Bruce & Mark Hughes are both old mates of Tom's father Paul from his Man Utd days, but Sunderland and Stoke? Surely if you're looking to put yourself in the media spotlight you're better off doing it at a club still contesting European football than clubs who seem set for a relegation battle? I'm not saying we're completely clear of that potential obstacle ourselves, but still.
Rumour has it there's a 3pm deadline, but even though I do want him to come in he is stretching his luck now. With all details apparently agreed between Ince and the Swans a few days ago, he's surely testing the club's patience to the limit.
Either way, it should be a fairly interesting next 24 hours.