With just over a month gone of the Premier League season, Josh Kilmister has a look at a few of the players that we parted ways with during this transfer window
First of all, Michu. After an impressive first season in the Premier League, the Spanish forward earned a call up to his national side, before spending the entirety of last season either on the bench or in the medical room. Michu joined Italian giants Napoli on a season long loan in the summer, but how is he getting on?
He made his debut on the opening day of the season, coming off the bench for the final five minutes in a 2-1 victory over Genoa. He also got off the bench against Sparta Prague in the Europa League last Thursday, bagging himself an assist in a 3-1 win. Michu made his first start of the season on Sunday against Udinese and, according to the Twitter accounts of Napoli fans, wasn’t impressive.
Another former Swan now at Napoli is Jonathan De Guzman. Although he was only on loan at the Liberty, after two years in South Wales I really did feel like he was one of ours, and I’m sure he thought likewise. After numerous rumours that we’d gone in for the Canadian born Dutchman this summer, De Guzman joined Rafa Benitez’s side. Despite scoring in their opening game against Genoa, De Guzman has failed to make the starting eleven, but has made three appearances from the bench.
Probably the biggest transfer regarding sales this summer was Ben Davies to Spurs. As well as starting for Wales in their game against Andorra, Davies has started two Europa League ties against AEL Limassol and Partizan Belgrade, receiving a yellow card in both games. In the Premier League however, Davies has made just one appearance, where he came off the bench in a 3-0 defeat to Liverpool.
Goalkeeper Michel Vorm joined Ben Davies at Spurs, but is yet to make an appearance. Unsurprising, and he's now the second Dutch 'keeper who's left the Swans for more esteemed pastures, only to find himself parked firmly on the bench. Whatever he does, he shouldn't ask Dorus De Vries for any more career advice.
Chico Flores was central to a lot of controversy last season, and that was no doubt a key factor in seeing him leave for Qatari side Lekhwiya - though of course the main reason for the transfer was that Lekhwiya are now managed by none other then Michael Laudrup. Chico scored on his debut in a 5-0 victory over Qatar SC and has started every game since. Lekhwiya stand at the top of their league, which in all honesty isn’t much of an achievement, however if his Instagram account is anything to go by, the lack of competitive football doesn’t bother Mr. Flores and his monkey (yes, his monkey!) in the slightest.
It seems our players left in pairs this summer as Pablo Hernandez is also earning a living in Qatar, but at a different club. Hernandez plays for Al Arabi (though the screens in the Liberty this Saturday would have you believing otherwise!), and he's started life in Qatar in blistering form - scoring three goals in four games, but again, I doubt that's any kind of actual achievement. Al Arabi are currently third in the Qatari League, for anyone who's interested.
In terms of first team players, I think that’s about it. Of course there’s the likes of Jose Canas, who was essentially given to Espanyol on a free which can only be because of the part he played in the team’s separation (and the reported bustups in training) last season. The same can be said for Alejandro Pozuelo (now at Rayo Vallecano) who looked promising for us early on, but ultimately faded, and they've both made a couple of appearances for their new clubs this season.
A few other players that have left on a permanent basis include Jerneade Meade (still available on a free, though I doubt we'll re-sign him like we did Tiendalli), David N'Gog (now at Stade de Reims) and Darnel Situ (now at Aarhus Gymnastikforening in Denmark - or AGF for ease of pronunciation) who were all released. Good luck to them all.
Last but most certainly not least, there is one player who was on our books last year but isn’t part of the squad this year. That of course, is ‘Mr Manager of the Month’ Garry Monk.
I don't think anyone would have it any other way!
Thanks to Josh as usual for his latest piece! Follow him on Twitter @JoshKilmister. Would you have rather seen any of these players retained? Use the comment section below to get in touch!
I don't think anyone would have it any other way!
Thanks to Josh as usual for his latest piece! Follow him on Twitter @JoshKilmister. Would you have rather seen any of these players retained? Use the comment section below to get in touch!