Bobby Gardiner returns to offer a different take on the Gomis situation
When Swansea City broke their transfer record to sign an Ivorian poacher from Vitesse, Huw Jenkins brandished the transfer an anomaly. An easy task, he postulated, to sign a known goalscorer, one that had done so well in the Eredivisie and one known globally. A theoretically sound statement but, ironically, the negative consequences of signing a recognised goal-scorer were not to be experienced until over a year later, and the striker in question is not Wilfried Bony.
Gomis’ ability has never been doubted by those who have kept an eye on the striker at Lyon. The jump between Ligue 1 and the Premier League is far less than the disparity between the latter and the Eredivisie, and so in many ways the Gomis transfer crystallised how much of a gamble the Bony signing still was despite his superhuman record in the Netherlands.
Where Wilfried was keen to prove himself and earn a big move, Bafetimbi probably felt he had done that already yet was repeatedly scorned by Europe’s elite. A move to Swansea City would provide him a good platform in the twilight of his peak years to still manage it, while running his contract down at Lyon would make the move equally financially viable due to a huge (reportedly £8m) signing on fee.
Amidst his latest controversial quotes, the French striker claims to have been promised a starting spot - to partner Wilfried Bony rather than play deputy. Although it would be speculative to take his word as gospel, this ties in with Monk’s experimentation in pre-season, possibly inspired by Rodgers’ success with a diamond last season. The loss to Villarreal and the evident defensive frailty may have scared the young manager off this idea, especially after a conservatively set up team triumphed over Manchester United on the opening day of the season.
To grow as a club, Swansea need to learn to handle stars. Buying players with everything to prove is an undeniably effective dominant strategy, but for every Bony fairytale there is the resulting heart palpitations of a Jonjo Shelvey. Gomis’ agent is milking links with clubs because that is exactly what he is meant to do, and precisely what he was unable to do last summer due to a perverse lack of interest.
His client is now a hot commodity in the January panic for an accomplished goalscorer, and Swansea should do everything they can to keep him. His comments have been aggravating but not much more than mildly disrespectful - if his story is true, the only real qualm that can be raised is his willingness to publicise it.
To get the best out of Gomis, Huw and Monk need to manipulate his self interest by rejecting all offers and forcing him into a position where his only hope of a big move in the summer will be showing the January suitors that he is what he claims to be in the meantime.
The profit would be negligible because of the sign on fee anyway and, by selling, Swansea would be throwing themselves onto the same fire that Gomis would pull another club out of.
Thanks to Bobby for this piece - what do you make of this? I'm in favour of selling him but I do understand the argument against it - would you cash in or look to make him stay on in SA1?
Bobby is Co-founder of and writer for FalseIX Football - http://falseix.com