Over the last few games it's become clear we should invest in one position in particular, and in my opinion we should obliterate our transfer record for a player in that position
There was a time when, coming up through the leagues in our recent past, Swansea City's transfer record had remained unbroken since August of 1981. That record was £340,000, paid to Liverpool for Colin Irwin ahead of our ultimately ill-fated second season in the old First Division. Due to our subsequent fall through the divisions, growing up following the Swans in the Third Division meant the idea of paying that kind of money for a player was simply mind-boggling, and I remember thinking the £35,000 capture of Paul Connor was a big deal.
Fast forward a few years and we thought we'd broken it when, in 2006, we had apparently agreed a deal for Dean Leacock, but that £375,000 move collapsed and he ended up going to Derby for the same figure. It wasn't until two years later that we actually ended up breaking the record, and who was it that we brought in? None other than Ashley Williams, for a reported £400k. (Dean Leacock is now playing for Crawley, so the Derby move clearly worked out for him). Ash worked out ok though, eh?
Since then, we've seen the record smashed multiple times. Scott Sinclair was brought in for a fee rising to around a million and a half, Danny Graham cost £3.5million, Ki & Pablo £5.5million, before eventually a year and a half ago we brought in Wilf for £12million. It still seems strange saying the Swans signed a player for that amount of money, but that's the finance-driven world football has become and if we're to stay in the Premier League for a long time we'll spend big as and when needed in the future.
You're probably wondering why I think we should break our transfer record, and if truth be told I'm being a bit specific. What I'm actually referring to is our transfer record for a full-back. Firstly, we're desperately in need of improvement (and depth) in that department, and whilst pondering this after the Spurs game I came to the realisation that we've never spent money on a full-back. Ever.
Well, I say ever. We signed Kevin Amankwaah for £250,000 (!) at one point, which was a crazy bit of business, but as far as I can tell that remains the highest figure we've officially paid for either a left-back or a right-back. For a club in it's fourth year of Premier League football, that's outstanding. Out of the current full-backs on our books, we've got Neil Taylor (£150k), Angel Rangel (£25k), Jazz Richards (youth) and Dwight Tiendalli - who we've signed on a free transfer...twice! There is Stephen Kingsley to factor into the equation, and his transfer (while undisclosed) was believed to be close to a million pound, so while that's more than the Amankwaah deal it's still peanuts in Premier League terms.
As mentioned, in recent weeks (and, to be honest, since the start of the season) I've thought we've been poor at full-back, and despite Taylor's improving form I think it's definitely the weakest area of our squad. We've spent money on every other position - Vorm & big wages for Fabianski in goal, Fernandez at centre-back, Ki at central midfield, Montero & Routledge out wide, plus obviously Wilf, Gylfi and others have come in for multi-million pound fees. The last position we've held out on, financially at least, is full-back.
That's not to say what we've got hasn't been serving us well. Until this season Rangel's lack of pace wasn't an issue, while we've been waiting for Jazz to kick on for some time now. On the other side, Davies' departure has left us looking vulnerable as the once-competitive Tiendalli now seems very far from the first-team picture. Kingsley clearly isn't viewed as ready either, and you can't help but feel that investment in this area of the squad is now slightly overdue.
As to who we should bring in, I can't say I've given it much thought. I'll have a look at some stats later to see if anyone jumps out in terms of performance who may be available, but one name I have seen mentioned which did strike me as a distinct possibility is Keiran Trippier of Burnley. He got fourteen assists last season for Burnley in the Championship and the ex-Man City youngster also takes a mean free-kick. On the face of it he seems like he'd be an excellent addition to the side, plus, with Burnley's Premier League future by no means certain, it's possible we'd be able to secure a deal in January when they'll get more for their man.
Whether we'll bring someone in during the January transfer window is debatable, but Monk has spoken recently about how he wants young, hungry players keen to further their development, and Trippier would definitely fit that billing. I don't think holding off signing a full-back until the summer would leave us in any danger at all, but I do think we now need to bring in new blood at both left-back and right-back (assuming Kingsley isn't ready any time soon), in order that we keep improving the squad and address our current weaknesses.
How much we end up spending remains to be seen, but I think we'll be signing someone sooner rather than later. With the current transfer record for a full-back standing at somewhere between £250k & a million, expect that to tumble.