Swansea's "Korean Beckham" reported to be the subject of interest from Paul Lambert's Villa
The start to a new week, and the start of a new bit of gossip. The Telegraph are reporting that Villa are keen on Ki Sung-Yueng, and while the club are known to be keen for Ki to prove himself this season, every player has their price. What Ki's would be is hard to say though.
Ki's first season in the Premiership started very well, but with rumours of a fallout with Laudrup he struggled to make the team towards the tail end of the season, and found himself loaned out to Sunderland for the following campaign. Again, he started well but by the end of the season Sunderland fans were questioning his commitment, and there were rumours that his reported tendinitis of the knee (an injury impossible to detect on scans or x-rays) was actually a ploy which allowed him to be fresh for the World Cup. We'll never know if that's true though. I'd certainly hope not.
The possible departure of Ki could actually see the Swans in need of midfield reinforcements. With the future of Jonathan De Guzman still up in the air (and his signature still far from a certainty), the sale of Ki would leave us with just Leon, Jonjo, and young Jay Fulton as the only recognised central midfielders in the squad. It's not impossible that Jose Canas will still be here come the first day of the season, but his days at the club (along with Alejandro Pozuelo, Michu & Pablo Hernandez) now seem numbered.
This makes the talk of us bidding for Muhammed Besic that much more understandable. Central midfield is traditionally an area we've been strong in, and we need to make sure that before we allow a quality player to leave we've got a replacement - and ideally an improvement - lined up already.
It is very difficult for the Swans hierarchy, as until the future of Bony is sorted it's a lot more difficult to decide on your Plan A ahead of the new season. If we're playing two up top Ki's range of passing, plus his occasional physicality, mean he's very suited to playing at the base of a diamond. This could see Leon push further up and allow him to operate more akin to a Xavi-style link midfielder, as opposed to having to cover huge amounts of ground whilst exposed as a lone defensive midfielder, a lá the tail end of 2013/14.
If, on the other hand, the plan is and has always been to operate with one up top and three central midfielders, then the importance of Ki is arguably even greater. As mentioned, selling Ki would leave us with only three central midfielders come the beginning of the season (although Pablo & Routeldge have both shown they can operate in the number ten position if required) but being completely honest I can't see this being something the club won't address. We've already been linked with Besic, but with the Bosnian now seemingly set for Everton we'll have to cast our net elsewhere.
Who the Swans feel they need to bring in is a mystery to everyone not privy to our rolling shopping list, but one thing is for sure. There's at least one central midfielder on that list.