Dyer signs new contract

Former Saints star Dyer pens new four-year deal with Swans

Good news! The club have announced that fans' favourite Nathan Dyer has put pen to paper on a new four year deal which will run until the summer of 2017. Fans had been given reason to believe this was a mere formality as in recent weeks both Huw and Nath himself have been in the press saying they were expecting this to be sorted sooner rather than later, and so it's turned out that the only member of the first-team squad whose contract was due to expire this coming summer now has a contract which will see him remain at the club until beyond his 29th birthday.

Dyer is a player who has clearly worked painstakingly hard on areas of his game which needed improvement. When he first arrived in SA1, his dribbling and trickery were plain for all to see but his end product was often found lacking; not so any more. Toward the end of last season he really started to show that his crossing (as well as his much improved finishing) has come on leaps and bounds - it's perhaps no surprise that his passing has improved dramatically since one of the game's all-time great passers took the reins at the Swans, and with Dyer still only 25 there's reason to be positive that he'll continue to improve with increased competition for places, as well as a higher calibre of training facilities, pushing the overall standard of the squad to previously unseen levels.

Speaking to the official site, Dyer is clearly delighted to have extended his stay in South Wales:

“I’ve been here four years now, and I wanted to stay at Swansea. I didn’t even think about going anywhere else, so it is nice to get it all sorted.  We’ve made a lot of progression here as a club, and I feel I have progressed too.  I am still trying to improve as a footballer and I feel I can do that here.  I think the club can continue to improve. We have made some quality signings and the squad strength is very strong now.  

"You look at the potential of the club when you are making key decisions like this, and I don’t see the club going downhill in anyway. I can only see it going up and up. When I came from Southampton it was hard moving on as I had been there since I was a youngster, but the way Swansea took me in – the club, the fans, the staff – has allowed me to improve a lot more and settle very easily. 

“This is my home now. I am very settled here.  It is a family club, and I think a lot of players thrive because of that. The memories I have had from the past year have been phenomenal. It has been a whirlwind year.” Nathan Dyer

Fingers crossed that Nathan and the Swans can continue their upward curve together.

"Laudrup to stay at Swansea" says someone who could be his agent

Posts on Twitter indicate all is well in South Wales

Following on from the supposed news that Laudrup was growing miffed at our lack of activity in the transfer market, we've had to endure a farcical few days of speculation. The manner in which this is currently being handled is rather worrying to be honest - it seems no-one really knows what's going on and at the centre of the issue is Bayram Tutumlu, Laudrup's agent.

Posts on a newly created Twitter account purportedly belonging to the Dane's representative have led to a new wave of stories. The only quote the press have run with is this:

"Michael Laudrup is going to stay at Swansea City because he promised the players that he was going to stay. 

"For Michael Laudrup, his word is more important than other things." 

Matter over? Not quite. Within hours of this story being picked up, there was massive speculation as to whether the Twitter account is genuine. I have to admit, I have my doubts and given that WalesOnline weren't confident enough to use the quote in their article it seems I'm not alone. The Evening Post and Skysports were both confident enough to include it though, so maybe they've managed to verify it's authenticity.

As stated the other day, even if there is an issue I'm sure it can be resolved amicably. Laudrup seems like a reasonable chap, and losing out to clubs like Liverpool (Aspas) and Chelsea (Lukaku looks set to stay in London next season) can hardly be labelled as a failing on the part of the board.

Given that all this speculation stemmed from comments by Tutumlu, if it turns out the Twitter account is genuine then it could be that he's trying to stem the surge of conjecture that we've seen this week. We won't know until it's confirmed or denied either way - Swansea Vice-Chairman Leigh Dineen originally denounced the account as a fake but has since admitted it looks like the account used (along with another) are both genuine, so hopefully that's this one put to bed.

With Laudrup reported to be meeting the board for talks next week, it could well be that transfer dealings start in earnest. I for one can't wait.