Let's just hope our nerve isn't tested too much...
Swansea City are not a selling club. We have no need to be, as we have no debt and we're looking at our fourth season in the Premier League which, for a club our size, is financially massive. Ok, we've spent on infrastructure but that was needed, and ok we paid twelve million for Bony but I'm starting to get the impression there's a room somewhere under the Liberty Stadium full of cash which Huw Jenkins spends his Saturday nights rolling around in, a lá Scrooge McDuck in Duck Tales.
We received good fees for Sinclair, Graham, Allen, Rodgers... just those four saw us pocketing over thirty million so on top of the TV money it's hard to believe we aren't up there with the most solvent clubs in the country. Couple that with the club's aim of improving on last season's league finish and why would we sell? Money's no good if you've got a weaker squad and in Bony's case in particular it's impossible to argue we'd be better off without him.
Sure we could sign a replacement but there's no guarantee whoever came in would replicate the form of the Ivorian, and any time you swap your main focal point it's a risk as there's sure to be an adjustment period. Bony's thirteen goals in his last nineteen games of the season show that once he was embedded in the team, he was able to perform far more effectively and I think continuity really gets the best out of players. I'm looking forward to his second season!
"I think we can hold on to him. He's a good guy but money talks. It would have to be an astronomical fee for him to leave though and we're not a selling club. We're not in any debt. We don't need to lose anyone so we're in a strong position."
"He's a proper professional. He's not the sort of player to take it easy. Every single day he pushes himself and everyone around him. The more players you have in your squad, the better you're going to be." Garry Monk
Good stuff from Monk that. Not that it'll stop anyone trying, but rumours of an £18million bid from Liverpool are concerning given their habit of being willing to be bartered up. Andy Carroll? I'd say when you look at Bony's form this season, his age, and the aspirations of any club looking to sign him, he's easily a £25million player. Any club looking to sign him are doing so because they believe he's a 20 goal a season striker, and we have no need to sell - those two things combined mean that only the kind of offer which is impossible to reject will be sufficient to prize our star asset away. Will someone have the gumption and clout to seriously test our nerve? Let's hope not.
Michu then. To be honest I thought it was a bit unnecessary Monk coming out and saying he wasn't for sale, as given his injury problems this past season if I was an opposing manager I'd be staying well away from him. God knows what he's valued at at this moment in time, but while I'm far from his biggest fan he is a handy option to have, and if we're going 4-4-2 diamond next season with a view to him being kept around it's sensible to make some noise about retaining him I guess.
Monk has come out and said that, like with Bony, we're not looking to sell our best players:
“He has definitely not been put up for sale by anyone at this club, me, the chairman or anyone. Our only discussion about Michu is getting him back to fitness and making sure he's on the pitch for Swansea and scoring goals.
"He's a goalscorer, our top scorer two seasons ago, so that's not something you dismiss very lightly. We want him here at the club."
Again, a fairly clear message. I think we could cope with losing Michu but Bony would be a massive blow - let's just hope nobody fancies chucking the best part of thirty million pound our way this summer.
My god that is a weird sentence for a Swansea fan to type...