Ex-West Brom & Nottingham Forest defender showed his class at World Cup
I can't be the only one in love with all things Chile right now. Jorge Sampaoli's men showed that while Spain's style of tika-taka may well have regressed and imploded, there is more than one way to employ a possession based system and get results, and it took a penalty shootout to separate them from many people's favourites Brazil.
Chile, like the Swans throughout our rise to the Premiership, have shown that you can take supposedly inferior players and instill a system in them which, if adhered to correctly, can produce results. Their back three at the World Cup consisted of two midfielders who'd been relegated from their leagues (Francisco Silva of Osasuna & Gary Medel of Cardiff), and Gonzalo Jara of Nottingham Forest - who's been released on a free transfer by the Tricky Trees.
This got me thinking - Jara is a versatile defender who can play at centre-back and in either fullback position - on a free transfer there are far worse players you could be signing. Ok, he missed the penalty which put Chile out of the World Cup but his overall performance (like that of his national teammates) at the tournament was excellent. He's joint seventh in terms of all time caps for Chile with sixty-nine, and I think the Chilean could definitely offer something for the Swans.
Still only twenty-eight, the right-footed defender could prove good cover for Angel Rangel, whose lack of pace sadly gets shown up more year on year, while the fact he's available on a free will definitely be a plus point for the Swans, who've just committed a big chunk of their available wage bill to Bafetimbi Gomis. Dwight Tiendalli hardly set the world alight last year, and the fact that Jara can play on either side of the defence means that if one of Ben Davies or Neil Taylor was to depart we'd have another able defender in place who could come in and deputise.
I don't know, maybe this is just me being a Chile fanboy, but I think this makes sense. Tidy defender, good experience playing in a national side who like to pass the ball, and he's available on a free. What's not to like?!
Should we sign Gonzalo Jara? Would the fact he spent last season playing in the Championship make it hard for him to adjust, or would his World Cup experience easily counteract that? Get involved in the comment section below!