Michu leaving could free up wages, explaining Bafetimbi Gomis' reportedly bumper deal
The idea that we could be looking to move Michu on to finance Bafetimbi Gomis' contract first occurred to me whilst enjoying a couple of pints courtesy of the BBC. No, they hadn't decided to pay me to write about the Swans - instead I'd been invited by a friend to be "part of a crowd in a pub" for a segment on Crimewatch, and I even got a starring role when my hand was required to nab my friend's iPhone. I resisted the urge to scrawl "SCFC" on my knuckles (not the kind of advertising you want for the club!) but I did have our lovely purple & yellow away shirt on. Represent!
As to the point of this article though, I think it's valid. The media are tripping over themselves to announce the signing of Gomis which, had it not been for Wilf's the summer before, would easily be the biggest in Swansea's history, and while talk of him earning seventy or eighty thousand a week is sure to be crazily wide of the mark I'd imagine he'll be on at least £35k a week - a serious, serious amount of money for the Swans to be committing to one player. That'd put him on a par with anyone currently at the club, and I doubt the Swans would sign someone to sit on the bench and agree to pay him that much money. Plus, if the deal is reported to be heavily related to his performance I doubt he'd agree to come in unless he had some kind of assurance as to how much first-team football he was due to be playing.
Nor do I believe that Gomis is coming in as a replacement for Bony. Bony is way, way too important to even be considering selling, and I think Gomis is most definitely coming in as a partner for him as opposed to a replacement. The more I think about it, the more the Frenchman seems a replacement for Michu - the Spaniard really struggled with injury last season, anything over £2million is a profit and we've already (arguably) got the best out of him. If any of the off-field frustrations stuff is true, then all these factors - plus the ability to save roughly what Gomis will be earning on the wage bill - mean that if sentiment was put aside it's pretty much a no-brainer. The hardest thing, I think, would be finding a buyer - and that's why this reported interest from Qatari champions Lekhwiya piqued my interest.
If Laudrup is there, that could be perfect for a player like Michu. He'd be a class above almost anything else in that league, he'd have his favourite manager to work for, and he probably wouldn't have to work his obviously knackered lower legs so hard. Plus, he could wander around in his "not quite a striker not quite a midfielder" position all he wants, and people would probably love it - if you haven't got Premier League standard opposition closing you down it'd be a lot easier to get away with.
This isn't me wishing Michu away - I very much hope he gets himself fit and challenges for a place next season. I can't help but think though that the way things have been going over the last week or so we could well have seen Michu pull on the Swansea shirt for the last time.