Is it time to give the bargain bucket the boot?

With the Swans continuing to grow in stature, should we be looking to sign one big-name player per summer?

For Swansea, financial prudence must almost be fun. It's easy to imagine Huw smirking while he tries to gain a few more million for one of his charges, or debating just how low we can start the bidding for a prospective new signing, but there surely comes a time for a club growing in stature in the Premier League where spending bigger sums become almost necessary, in order that you continue to attract players who would be able to improve the overall calibre of the squad.

I'm not saying it's impossible to sign players on the cheap who'll turn into absolute bargains - Michu did alright, for example, while we have signed numerous players for low transfer fees who've gone on to do excellent things for us, but as we grow in stature it's only natural that the fees involved in these kinds of transfers will increase. We signed Bony for £12million, and this is the kind of fee I'm talking about - for this kind of money you can attract genuine quality, and what's more generally players in this price bracket hold their value.

We don't need to be ridiculous, but if we can get the youth system producing regular prospects, then we could soon be, or even are in the position now where signing one player around this kind of fee per summer could be all we need. The squad will improve year on year, and we'll be building a squad of players who, if they do depart, will go for big fees.

Swansea's bargain bucket signings 
had a distinctly Spanish flavour

What's more; it's a damn sight easier to get rid of one player if he doesn't fit in than it is to get rid of three or four who you signed for free (Canas, Pozuelo...). I'm saying this because I can't help but think that Gary Medel would be a really, really good addition to our squad. Whether Cardiff would sell to us, or he fancies it, is up for debate - as is whether the Swans would be interested - but I don't think we should be scared off by fees of £10million if the player in question will obviously improve the squad dramatically. As I say, you need to be careful and do your research but if it's that obvious - which in my opinion it is with Medel - it's definitely worth investing. Again - just look at Wilfried Bony's success since the turn of the year. 

I'm not saying it's time to abandon our financial scrupulousness - far from it. We should still drive a hard bargain - but if we get a £15million player for £10million we'll have done a lot better than getting a £6million player for £4million. In terms of improving the squad anyway. Surely after a few years in the Premier League, where your squad has improved as it's evolved, it's only natural you'll be spending bigger transfer sums? 

We'd reportedly agreed a fee of £6.7million for Dmitri Payet, but I'd say we should be targeting a higher class of player. Why not? We've been in the Europa League, we've won a major cup in the last two years and we're about to embark on a fourth season in the biggest league in the world. Oh, and we've been putting money away more successfully than almost any other club. Why wouldn't we be an attractive proposition to the "next big thing" coming out of any European league? We should definitely be throwing our hat in the ring, anyway.

Is it time to kick the bargain bucket in the bin? Possibly not. That's not to say we can't afford the occasional deluxe boneless feast, though.