Sigurdsson coming in is an undoubted boost, but has Levy got the best of the bargain on this occasion?
The impending transfer of Gylfi Sigurdsson to the Swans, with Ben Davies and Michel Vorm going the other way, sees two of football's canniest negotiators going head to head in a bid to barter the best deal. It could, at times, have resembled the scene at a Moroccan market stall as a vendor attempts to get the most for his prized possession - the difference is though with both hagglers attempting to drive the price up on their own merchandise there was always going to be one who came out on top, and one who was a little hard done by.
Swansea fans and Tottenham fans alike will have backed their chairmen to drive the better bargain, and I had full faith in Huw - not that the result of this bartering match affects my faith in him whatsoever. That being said, you can't help but feel that Levy has driven the price down to the point where it's hard to argue he hasn't had the better of the deal.
Ben Davies is young, British, and liable to improve. Let's say he's been valued at £10million (as per reports - the same as the reported fee put on Sigurdsson's head) - how does that work? Sigurdsson cost Spurs about £8.5million, and he's been in and out of the team since. I don't think many Spurs fans would argue he's enhanced his value during his time at White Hart Lane, and I think if the Swans had paid the same as Spurs originally did to acquire him I think that would have been fair.
How Davies isn't worth more in today's market is beyond me. Danny Rose - the man he's billed to replace - is being touted as a £6million signing and if there's any truth to that Ben Davies is worth at least double. Positionally Davies is suspect, but he's twice the defender Danny Rose is. This is why I have this feeling Spurs have stung us for a couple of million here - especially as it seems Spurs are now looking to pay around £3.5million/£4million for Michel Vorm. If that's true, I'd say we're about three or four million short of what would have been a fair mark - even for a club like Spurs with a track record of hard bargaining.
You live and you learn, and at this level you're dealing with shrewd operators no matter who you're talking to. I'm sure if Huw does feel Spurs have got one over on us it'll only serve as incentive to bargain that much harder next time around. That is The Swansea Way, after all. Buy low, sell high. Let's not sell ourselves short.