With the Swans rumoured to be in talks to sign the Southampton man, how has he compared to our midfield so far this season?
In what must surely be one of the most protracted will-he-won't-he transfer sagas in our history, Jack Cork is reported to be once again the focus of attention from the Swans. I did a stats piece last summer (link) which showed Cork to be a shrewd defensive operator, but with over half a season having passed by since then I thought it'd be worth seeing how he's done this season, with Southampton having changed their style - to dramatic effect - under Ronald Koeman.
Firstly, and seeing as we're famously a team who likes to keep the ball, let's look at possession and passing. All stats are in "per ninety minutes" format unless not appropriate, and are sourced from Squawka.com.
As you can see Cork stands up very well when compared with our midfield, excelling in various areas. Southampton aren't as possession-focused this season so it's natural he's not completing as many passes as our midfielders, but his pass completion percentage is still very high while in terms of output it's hard to argue he isn't the more impressive player. More key passes and chances creates indicate that he'd help us move up the field perhaps more efficiently than we're currently able to.
Next, let's look at actual output - though I appreciate that when looking at more defensive-minded midfielders this may not be the best thing to judge players on.
Unsurprisingly, Leon doesn't score many goals. The only times I can remember are (obviously) the Forest playoff goal, another one (I think) against Forest which came back off the post and hit the keeper before going in, thus being credited as an own goal, before essentially the same fate befell him against Arsenal, when he defied years of habit to surge forward into the box. Again the goal went down as an own-goal, meaning he's now scored two goals in his last eight seasons with the Swans. We don't want him to score, anyway...
As for Cork, you can see he's managed two goals to Ki's three, despite only taking three shots! Excellent stuff, and that's the kind of finishing we like to see - if players are rarely in advanced positions it's important that when they do get into said positions they make it worthwhile. There's no point breaking from a defensive midfield berth if you aren't going to contribute, so that's an encouraging statistic.
Lastly, let's look at defence.
I was genuinely surprised by Cork's tackling stats, as last season (see the stats piece from this summer) he outstripped our defensive midfielders in terms of ballwinning. I think you have to accept the disparity has been caused by a change in system, as it's so dramatic (3.36 tackles per ninety down to 1.31 this season) that I can't see it being the result of his form dipping.
It's a bit of a mixed bag from there on in. He commits more fouls, but is yet to receive a yellow card - though having said that is it any surprise our players have suffered more at the hands of referees? It's almost pointless comparing anyone's disciplinary records against ours.
He wins a good percentage of his duels, while his interceptions and clearances fall inbetween those of our current midfielders. The prospect of Cork coming in also makes Tom Carroll's situation that much more interesting. Does this mean we're not in for Carroll? To be honest, I don't think so. Shelvey's future remains uncertain (and I've only just realised I haven't included him in this piece - sorry Jonjo!), while Leon isn't getting any younger. Yes, we've signed Matt Grimes, but he and Jay Fulton are clearly regarded as a little way off the first team, whereas Cork clearly has the quality to come in and play from day one.
We've seen of late that with a couple of absentees we really struggle to put out a competitive midfield. Against Chelsea we were asking for trouble with Gylfi deep and Oliveira at attacking midfield, and bringing Cork in would significantly strengthen the quality of our central midfield unit. With Shelvey still some way from resembling a Swansea City midfielder, and Carroll by no means certain to join, the signature of Cork would be an excellent addition. With his contract running out, he'll be cheap too.
When I put together the original stats piece in the summer, my opinion was we should do our best to sign Cork. That opinion hasn't changed. No price has been mentioned in the press yet, but I'd imagine it'll be below five million, given the short length of time on his existing contract.
For that money, we'd be stupid to not sign him.