Internet gossip says we've agreed a £4million deal, with wages also sorted
Yesterday reports started emerging that we're in for Muhammed Besic, who plays for Hungarian side Ferencvaros. A defensive midfielder, he starred for Bosnia at the World Cup and showed that he could definitely fit into the Swansea way of doing things by playing with a composure that belied his standing.
He started his career at Hamburg and forced his way into the Bosnia team by age eighteen, but fell out with Hamburg boss Torsten Fink a couple of years later - Wikipedia claims that his boss even strangled him! Either way he was suspended due to "lack of discipline" and found himself leaving for Hungary, where he went straight into the first team at Ferencvaros. Last season he played twenty-five times in the league, and he was booked eleven times, being sent off once. Not bad going. When you couple that with how he played in the World Cup - against Nigeria in particular - it's clear he's a player for whom the red mist descends on a regular basis.
I don't like nasty players, but if it can be harnessed it's an amazing quality to have. Chico, for example, lashes out a lot but people do go at him knowing they could get past him. Besic is a player who, if you run at him, you're rarely going to get past - one way or another. He looks like a player who hates being beaten one on one, and seems to have the habit of going after a man and kicking him until he gets the ball back, or his opponent isn't standing up any more. As I say, it needs harnessing...
There's a quote from a Bosnian reporter regarding Besic which is truly outstanding:
"70% of the earth is covered by water. The other 30% is covered by Muhammed Besic."
This was the impact his performances had for the international side at the World Cup, and thanks to Youtube you can check out his individual performance against Nigeria in HD. The wonders of the interweb eh.
He seems a very tidy footballer, and if the £4million fee that's being reported is correct that's not a bad bit of business at all. A midfielder who impressed at the World Cup, playing in a system where he was very, very exposed, for less than £5million quid? Bargain.
Where this leaves Jose Canas is hard to say. He hasn't traveled to the USA along with Pozuelo, Michu or Pablo and if Besic comes in that surely calls time on Canas' career in South Wales - assuming someone will take him off our hands, that is.