Wednesday 16 July 2014

Pablo to Al Arabi done, Jeff in Swansea for a medical?

One winger out, one in...


I bet Huw Jenkins wishes Michu's transfer was being sorted out as easily as Pablo's seems to have been.

The first reports linking Pablo with a move away from the Swans surfaced a week or so ago, and the story was that the Spaniard wanted a move in order to be closer to his daughter. This doesn't seem to have been the prime motivation though, as Huw has confirmed he'll be joining Qatari side Al Arabi.

I'll be sad to see him go, as he's shown his class on more than one occasion, but it has become evident that he's possibly not capable of performing to 100% week in, week out across an entire season. Whether that's because his fitness levels weren't managed properly is up for debate, but given how much we spent on him it's hard to argue he's completely lived up to everything that could legitimately been expected of him.

The Swans are reported to be receiving a "small transfer fee" for him, so at least we're recouping some of the £5.5million we spent on him, and that money could well be reinvested promptly on Ecuadorian winger Jefferson Montero - who is reportedly in Swansea today for a medical.

I've said on numerous occasions that, simply because he has "Jeff" on the back of his shirt, I'm all for signing him. Well, that and he's likely to be cheap, with £4million reported to be the fee involved. I don't know too much about him, but I've watched all the videos there are to be found online and one thing's for sure; he's damn quick. Possibly a little one-dimensional, but quick.

Hopefully we'll learn more about the arrival of Montero, plus the departure of Hernandez (and maybe his compatriot Michu too) today. Expect transfer activity to begin in earnest over the next week or two.