Six players signed during Laudrup's reign have already left...are another six on their way?
There was a time at Swansea City when everything Michael Laudrup touched turned to gold. A newly signed Michu got his reign off to a flyer, but I feel that Michu's time with the Swans reflects Laudrup's quite neatly; started well, middled for a bit, then bottomed out. As for the other players brought in during Laudrup's reign, it's become increasingly apparent we are looking to move the majority of them on, and I thought it'd be interesting to put a list together to see how many are going to still be here next season - and how many will possibly be playing in Qatar for Laudrup's new club Lekhwiya.
Players signed in 2012/13
Dwight Tiendalli (Free Transfer) - Ah, Dwight. The man who thought he could do better elsewhere. Then couldn't. Then we signed him again and for some reason gave him a three-year contract. Since then, he seems to have most definitely put his feet up but I'd be surprised if he moves on this summer. In fairness to him, in his first season here he did well and was every bit Rangel's equal, but his form last year was generally atrocious and he'll need to do better to feature regularly under Monk this coming season.
Jamie Proctor (undisclosed) - The one that never really came off. Signed (probably) without a huge deal of input from Michael Laudrup, he was brought in from Preston but never really threatened the first team. Found himself loaned out before moving to Crawley, who he's subsequently left to move back north to Fleetwood. Good on him for wanting games so bad that after six months without featuring for the Swans he got himself a permanent move. Not many youngsters seem to have that drive, so hopefully he'll work his way back up through the leagues for a shot at the big time.
Jonathan De Guzman (Loan) - The mercurial one. Sometimes world-class (Valencia away, Sunderland at home) but more often quite wandery, and prone to lapses in concentration which can be costly in central midfield. In mitigation, he's never really played central midfield before moving to the Swans and he has obviously improved - especially during Garry Monk's short time in charge at the end of last season. Will he be here next season? I honestly hope so, though it's far from a certainty with other clubs guaranteed to be interested.
Roland Lamah (Loan) - The Premier League John Williams, as I've come to think of him. Lightning fast, but that's sod all use if you're not particularly good at football. Predictably not retained when his loan expired at the end of this season.
Itay Schechter (Loan) - The less said about Itay the better - suffice to say people have still got "I was there when Shechter scored" in their online profiles. After leaving the Swans he went back to Israel and scored a hat-trick first game back - confidence is a mad thing, eh? Since scoring seven in sixteen in Israel he's been loaned back to Europe (Nantes in France) where he's scored... you guessed it! No goals in twelve games. Predictable.
Kyle Bartley (£1million) - He's done alright has Kyle. If he could stay injury free there's probably no way Arsenal would have let him go in the first place, but we've seen enough to suggest that if he can curtail the kind of erratic lunges which saw him injured whilst putting in an impressive performance at Everton (even though we do all love a good erratic lunge), he could be a very good player for us indeed. Bloody handy in the air too, which given the stature of the rest of our squad is definitely a plus point. Possibly signed more by Huw than by Laudrup, he seems likely to get more of a run with Monk in charge.
Ki Sung-Yueng (£5million) - Like Bartley, I've always had my suspicions that Ki was signed primarily by the board as opposed to Laudrup, but the Dane clearly had no problem with the Korean early on and he featured heavily in the Swansea midfield in the first part of 2012/13. A falling out with Laudrup later saw him loaned out to Sunderland for the entirety of last season, and he's now the subject of rumours that Aston Villa are eyeing him up over a potential transfer. Personally I rate him and I'd love to see him kick on at the Swans - whether he gets that opportunity remains to be seen.
Chico Flores (£2.5million) - What can you say about Chico that hasn't already been said? The way I feel about Chico right now is that it's a shame he's a half-decent defender, as otherwise I'd have been crying out for him to be kicked out of the club a long time ago. To be honest, I'm bored of his circus now and if the rumours the club are looking to move him on are true, I've no problem with that. I doubt many Swansea fans would, to be honest.
Michu (£2million) - The enigmatic one. A free-scoring maverick in his pomp, a moaning liability at his worst. His time at the club seems to be up, for now at least, with Napoli seemingly set to get him on a loan deal. Visibly frustrated for large parts of last season it's not a surprising turn of events that he's leaving, and since Laudrup left the club Michu doesn't seem to have been the same player - although in honesty his form had been poor for a long time before his boss' departure.
Pablo Hernandez (£5.5million) - Arguably the most technically gifted player in the Swansea squad, I was disappointed to read last week that Pablo is angling for a move away from the club. That being said, there's already rumours that he could move to Qatari side Al Arabi (and weirdly not to Laudrup's Lekhwiya), who are managed by Romanian ex-Chelsea defender Dan Petrescu. Old school! I'd be sad to see Pablo go, but it is hard to see how he'd fit into a 4-4-2 diamond, and with his lack of pace surely getting worse year on year it's not necessarily a bad bit of business if we can recoup most of the £5.5million we paid for him.
Players signed in 2013/14
Wilfried Bony (£12million) - The success. Wilf is a legend, and the only possible negative I can see in reference to him right now is the fact that he might not be here next season. Hopefully no-one tests our mettle in terms of rejecting bids, as I think Wilf is a top, top player, who will score a lot of goals if he's leading the line for us next season.
Alvaro Vazquez (Loan) - Hands up who thought we couldn't find a worse striker option than Itay Schechter? Somehow Laudrup pulled an absolute ace out of the hat in terms of useless loan strikers, and managed to find an even more uninspiring option than his Israeli predecessor. File under "Won't be missed".
Jonjo Shelvey (£5million) - One that came off a lot better than I expected it to. For £5million any young British central-midfielder with European experience should be considered a bargain, and Jonjo has only increased his value since moving here. He's impressed me a lot more than I thought he would, and undoubtedly enjoyed his best Premiership season with us last year - the future is very bright for Jonjo Shelvey.
Jordi Amat (£2million) - Another good one this. After initially looking a bit lightweight Jordi has come into his own, and was pushing Chico out of the team by the end of last season. He obviously hit the gym in an effort to bulk up and it definitely helped, and this was aided by what I described as a shifting of allegiances from Chico to Ash. Out went the flashy turns, in came the dedicated shoulder barges. Has all the potential to be a very good defender indeed.
Alejandro Pozuelo (£600k[ish]) - Frustrating. Clearly all the talent in the world, but rumours of an attitude problem which had restricted first team opportunities at Betis resurfaced amid claims of a bustup in Swansea training. Didn't even make the squad for a single match once The Monk had come in, and seems set to depart this summer. My money would be on Spain or Qatar.
Jose Canas (Free Transfer) - Originally this looked a great bit of business. Even a few weeks into the season pundits were commenting on his work-rate, his high pass completion and the number of tackles he was putting in, but as time went on the one-dimensional limitations of his game became more apparent. Originally he survived Laudrup's departure, but after six games in the starting lineup under Monk he was relegated to the bench. Three games after that he too, like his former Betis teammate Pozuelo, was out of the squad.
Jernade Meade (Free Transfer) - A bit of a non-event, was Jernade. Probably most memorable to me for retweeting lots of stuff I wouldn't be able to show around in work, he never came near the first team and after a disappointing loan spell midway through the season he returned to the Swans, only to be released at the end of the campaign.
So there you have it - how Laudrup's signings have fared (excluding some youth signings) up until now. During his time here we made four loan signings, none of whom (at present) we've retained - though the club are fairly certain to try and make De Guzman a permanent addition. Two players (Meade & Proctor) signed during his time here have left - though I doubt Laudrup had too much to do with those ones, while a further SIX players signed in his tenure look likely to depart this summer. Pablo, Michu, Chico, Pozuelo & Canas all look likely to leave this summer, while the future of Ki as a Swansea player does seem to very much be up in the air.
This is all without considering the possibility that Wilf will leave this summer. At present I'd say the only signings made by Laudrup who are odds-on to be here at the start of the season are Kyle Bartley, Jordi Amat, Dwight Tiendalli and Jonjo Shelvey. Considering the lengthy list of players signed in the last two seasons I lovingly put together, that seems fairly remarkable to me. It does seem we're witnessing a forcible removal of certain aspects of "Laudrup's squad", and I'll admit to being surprised at the level of "clearing the decks" that seems to be going on at present. That doesn't mean I disagree with it though.
Ahead of next season the Swans are clearly looking to trim the squad and put together a group of players for whom commitment will never be an issue. It's a tough balancing act, but I'll always back the club to get it right. STID.