Huw to look at the loan market once again?
TSW's London Correspondent Andrew McGlashan on why the Swans should dip into the loan market before the season starts
Another week has passed and further departures have taken place at Swansea City. Chico has all but sealed his move to Qatar (for what can only be presumed to be for financial planning reasons rather than footballing) and Canas is also on the verge of a move back to Spain. I can’t really criticise Canas too much as I think he did a decent job for us last year on the whole but clearly Monk didn’t see him in his plans.
During the same period, despite lots of newspaper speculation and thousands of tweets, no incomings have been made to the squad. I think it is fair to say that, due to the lack of action at the “Liberty Arrivals Gate”, anxiety is starting to creep into the Jack Army about what is becoming an ever increasingly thin squad.
Now granted the transfer window is open for another three weeks so there is plenty of time to get deals done. However, there are only nine days until the first game of the season and then our home games against Burnley and West Brom follow shortly. It’s the Burnley and West Brom games which Monk will obviously be targeting six points from, however should no further arrivals occur and we get unlucky with injuries (especially in defence), then these games suddenly start to look a lot tougher.
Now we all Trust in Huw. That goes without saying, so I am not concerned at this point as I’m sure he and the board are well aware of the needs to strengthen and do have a plan. Yet it was thinking about this that made me realise what the plan may be. The loan market. Over the past decade the Swans have used this market effectively to strengthen the team, including most recently Siggy, Caulker, JDG and Borini. Now those more pessimistic fans would say that we’ve also loaned Vasquez and Shechter but I think it was plain to see that they were both Laudrup signings (and terrible ones at that!).
I am therefore thinking that the delay in any more transfer action is due to the board waiting for the top clubs in Europe to make their signings and let their squads settle - this will then allow for confirmation as to which players will be available for loan. A process which has been prolonged this summer due to the World Cup and players taking holidays later in the year as a result.
So who could Huw and Super Garry Monk be targeting in the loan market? Well I am going to take a fairly obvious guess and say it’s defenders. Going forward we look very strong compared to recent years but at the back ... well we haven’t looked this weak since Vangelis Moras came on with eighty minutes to go at Molineux back in 2011! I’ve therefore put forward my suggestions (as I’m sure Huw loves reading my articles) as to who could be available to strengthen our back line:
During the same period, despite lots of newspaper speculation and thousands of tweets, no incomings have been made to the squad. I think it is fair to say that, due to the lack of action at the “Liberty Arrivals Gate”, anxiety is starting to creep into the Jack Army about what is becoming an ever increasingly thin squad.
Now granted the transfer window is open for another three weeks so there is plenty of time to get deals done. However, there are only nine days until the first game of the season and then our home games against Burnley and West Brom follow shortly. It’s the Burnley and West Brom games which Monk will obviously be targeting six points from, however should no further arrivals occur and we get unlucky with injuries (especially in defence), then these games suddenly start to look a lot tougher.
Now we all Trust in Huw. That goes without saying, so I am not concerned at this point as I’m sure he and the board are well aware of the needs to strengthen and do have a plan. Yet it was thinking about this that made me realise what the plan may be. The loan market. Over the past decade the Swans have used this market effectively to strengthen the team, including most recently Siggy, Caulker, JDG and Borini. Now those more pessimistic fans would say that we’ve also loaned Vasquez and Shechter but I think it was plain to see that they were both Laudrup signings (and terrible ones at that!).
I am therefore thinking that the delay in any more transfer action is due to the board waiting for the top clubs in Europe to make their signings and let their squads settle - this will then allow for confirmation as to which players will be available for loan. A process which has been prolonged this summer due to the World Cup and players taking holidays later in the year as a result.
So who could Huw and Super Garry Monk be targeting in the loan market? Well I am going to take a fairly obvious guess and say it’s defenders. Going forward we look very strong compared to recent years but at the back ... well we haven’t looked this weak since Vangelis Moras came on with eighty minutes to go at Molineux back in 2011! I’ve therefore put forward my suggestions (as I’m sure Huw loves reading my articles) as to who could be available to strengthen our back line:
1. Matija Nastasic (Man City)
Nastasic signed for Man City back in 2012 and made an instant impact in his first season as he went on to be named Man City’s Young Player of the Season. However, injuries ruined his 2013-14 and he was limited to just 13 league appearances. With the impending arrival of Mangala from Porto and the recent improving performances of Demichelis, Nastasic could well find his playing time limited at the Ethiad. So what better way to get his career back on track than a season down at SA1!
He would undoubtedly add quality to our back line and would bring a wealth of experience despite being only twenty-one. Wages would obviously be a concern but given Man City’s wealth, it may be that they would happily subsidise his wages in order to assist in his development. We can but hope!
2. Jon Flanagan (Liverpool)
Flanagan had a hugely impressive season last year at Liverpool. At the start of the season many football fans wouldn’t be able to tell you who he played for never mind what he looked like, but a number of injuries gave him an opportunity at Anfield and boy did he pick it up and run with it. In spite of this Liverpool have still been very active in the full back market. They missed out on Ben to Spurs but have signed Manquillo on loan and are trying to tie up a deal for Alberto Moreno.
The arrival of these full backs could mean Brendan looks to loan out Flanagan, to make sure he gets first team football as he already has Johnson and Enrique in the ranks. Flanagan would be ideal due to his ability to play both sides and would mean less Tiendalli (sorry Dwight), and it’s not like Huw doesn’t have Brendan’s number (although I wouldn’t try his home phone given his antics over the past few months). Get on the blower Huw!
3. Kenneth Omeruo (Chelsea)
Following a fine World Cup campaign with Nigeria, Kenneth Omeruo is currently the subject of a lot of interest. He has already spent time on loan at Middlesbrough in the Championship but Chelsea could well now be looking to get him Premier League experience. As he is seen as one of the brightest of Chelsea’s young talent, Huw would be wise to tell Mourinho what the club did for Caulker a few years ago.
Omeruo would be a bit of a gamble given his age - he is only 20 - but Caulker was only 19 when we signed him and he was very impressive indeed. Wages would not be an issue and I’m sure with Ash next to him he would settle in nicely.
Now I’m sure many will disagree with the above or have other suggestions (please do let us know in the comments section below) but hopefully I may have shone some light on to the reasoning behind the recent lack of signings. Let us see what happens! In Huw we Trust.
Thanks to Andrew for this latest piece. Agree? Disagree? Get involved in the comment section below. You can follow Andrew on Twitter @AJMcGlashan