Swansea have lost two first teamers, but is the first team now stronger than it was a few weeks ago?
With the confirmation of Ben Davies & Michel Vorm departing for Tottenham (and Gylfi Sigurdsson coming the other way) we're slowly starting to see our first team for the coming season take shape.
The other day I wrote an article entitled "Has Levy got one over on Huw" (link), looking at whether, financially, Spurs had got the better of us in this one. This was based on the amount of money coming our way - it now appears we're going to receive about £2.5million for Michel Vorm while Davies and Sigurdsson is a straight swap, with both players reportedly valued at £10million.
This was the part I didn't understand - Davies is young, British, and everything would point to him being worth a couple of million more. Sigurdsson, on the other hand, cost Spurs around £8.5million and has been in and out of the team - it's hard to see where they got that extra £1.5million from.
It was then pointed out there's a distinct possibility that Spurs will be subsidising The Gylf's wages - which were probably around the £60,000 mark - as I doubt he fancied taking a £20,000 (or even bigger) pay cut. With the Swans' strict wage structure I can't see us paying him more than £40kpw - if Spurs are subsidising wages that makes trying to work out a relative transfer fee a lot more complex.
Wages aside though, Sigurdsson's arrival makes our first-team a LOT stronger. Having him behind Wilf, or Wilf & Bafi, gives us so many more options - I'm starting to get really excited about this coming season. What's more, with Fabianski lined up to come straight in for Vorm, and Taylor coming straight in for Davies, I'd argue that in terms of a first eleven at least, we're a fair bit stronger than we were a few weeks ago. A couple more signings to improve the depth and overall calibre of the squad, and we're going to be looking good.
It's still hard to tell how we'll line up week in, week out. I'm basing my "first team stronger" theory around a diamond mifield with two up top. Leon at the base of the diamond, Ki & Shelvey (with Fulton coming in I'm sure) ahead and Sigurdsson at attacking midfield. That's a quality four man midfield, and I think Ki & Jonjo would be able to support Leon in defence enough that he wouldn't get exposed. Especially with Sigurdsson ahead - it would take pressure to create off Jonjo and allow him to play a more disciplined, patient game.
There is still talk that the signing of Jefferson Montero is imminent, and with Nathan Dyer & Wayne Routledge already on the books another winger coming in would surely indicate that, for portions of the season at least, Monk intends to operate in a more traditional Swans' formation, with three in midfield. There is also a growing appreciation in football of the 3-5-2/5-3-2 formation, and I'll be surprised if the Swans aren't working on a way of utilising this - especially as you can switch between that and the diamond in-play with relative ease (for more on this, check this article out - link).
Whatever formation we play, I'm growingly confident about our fortunes ahead of this season. We've made good moves so far in the transfer market (Gomis, Fabianski & Sigurdsson all - depending how you look at it - coming in for free), and it seems we're not done shopping yet. The future's bright. The future's black and white.