Laudrup: "Is Pozuelo left-footed or right-footed? We don't know yet!"

Swansea manager admits that Spanish youngster's technique is on another level to any other player in the squad

So far this season, I'd argue our two most impressive signings were both made from Real Betis. Stand up and be counted, Jose Antonio Canas & Alejandro Pozuelo. The former has proved to be as astute a signing as he is hirsute a man, putting in tireless performance after tireless performance as he beds in the Swansea squad seamlessly, while the latter has had slightly less time to impose himself.

Restricted to substitute appearances in the league, he's had to make do with starts in the League Cup and Europa League as he bids to showcase his skills, and from what we've seen so far there's reason to be positive we've signed an absolute gem. For a paltry £500k(rumoured) in compensation, we've signed a player who had been once linked with Manchester United & Barcelona (read a profile I put together a few months ago here: LINK), and despite seeming to lose his way at Betis it looks like he's set on taking British football by storm.

He announced himself immediately, scoring on his debut against Malmo with a really tasty strike - thanks to Youtube we can go all multimedia and relive it here - it's the fourth goal (at 2min 23secs) but I love watching Michu's opener - damn that boy is cool.

From what we've seen so far Pozuelo looks a very accomplished footballer indeed. His ability to create has caused havoc when he's been subbed on late in matches, and I look forward to seeing what he can do once he's completely bedded in to the squad - despite operating in an almost exclusively attacking role whenever he's featured he's got a pass completion rate of 87.8% - to me that seems very very high for a player who has blatantly been looking to create every time he's received the ball.

In his five PL sub appearances, he's played three "key balls" which led to opportunities for teammates, and in the Europa League he's already got two assists to add to that goal he got against Malmo, as well as getting another goal against Petrolul. Something else worth mentioning is he's registered as having made 1.4 tackles per appearance in the Premier League - not bad considering he's averaged just twenty-four minutes per showing and it's actually more than Michu's made so far (1.2), so perhaps he puts in more of a shift than I'd realised.

Personally, Pozuelo is the one signing of the summer I'm really excited about. I bloody love Jose Canas, and I think Wilfried Bony will score, as an Australian would say, "heaps" of goals, but the level of technique the man now simply known as "Alex" has shown he possesses is something akin to having Lee Trundle back at the Liberty. "All aboard the showboat", as it were.

Michael Laudrup clearly agrees we've acquired a real talent in Pozuelo:

"I think Alejandro can do here what Coutinho has done at Liverpool. I remember when Coutinho arrived. He came from Inter and he had a lot to learn, but now he is one of the most important players at Liverpool. 

"With time, Pozuelo can do the same here because he has the same ability with the ball. He can find space, he is good one-on-one and has two good feet — we don't know if he is right-footed or left-footed. He also has very good vision. 

"He has a lot of talent. He's a player that you can see is still young, but he has so much quality with two feet. We have to bring him forward and that's what we will do. He still has to learn a lot of things, but he is getting better and better when we don't have the ball.

"He's not that tall, but he's quite strong. He needs to learn to use his body better, but with a player like that who is only 22, we have to bring him forward slowly. Then he will be another very important player for us." 

Read more: http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/story-19873683-detail/story.html?#ixzz2gYIVvwQB 

With the Swans in Europa League action tomorrow night against Swiss side St Gallen, it's likely he'll once again get a chance to impress as the Swans go in search of a victory which would go a long way in securing progression to the next round of the competition. 

Alejandro Pozuelo 7/1 first goalscorer, you say...

Swansea sign Betis midfielder Pozuelo, plus youngsters Zabret & Gogic

Trio of signatures announced while rumours persist of a big money bid for Jonjo Shelvey

One of the more low-key stories of the transfer window so far was that Swansea were looking to sign Alejandro Pozuelo from Real Betis, after his contract (kind of) came to an end. Betis disputed this (they had an automatic one year extension they felt he'd triggered) but in the end he got his way as long as the Swans paid around £500k, and so we've picked up a once-highly-rated midfielder for next to nothing.  

Pozuelo can play as an attacking midfielder or a striker, and will add another option to the Swans forward line. A tricky operator (read an in depth profile of him here), he lost his way at Betis but hopefully with a few positive influences around him in the Swans dressing room we'll see the best of him. For a player who was once linked with Barcelona and Manchester United, half a million could prove to be a real bargain.

Youngsters Zabret & Gogic sign on

As previously mentioned, the Swans had taken Slovenian 17-year-old goalkeeper Gregor Zabret on trial in January, and he's now chosen to sign a deal with the Swans, knocking back offers from Sporting Lisbon and West Brom. How times have changed. He's played quite a few games for NK Domzale who finished 3rd in the Slovenian league last season, so he's already had a lot of game time for someone his age, and hopefully he can kick on and prove to be an astute acquisition.

Midfielder Gogic, 19, signed from Olympiakos and no fee was mentioned on the official site. A fairly thorough search online only tells me what we already know from the club statement (that he's a Cyprus U21 international) and this one's going to have to be a case of "the proof is in the pudding" as no-one seems to know much about the kid. Good luck to both of them as they look to embark on a new chapter in their careers.

Swansea have £6million bid for Shelvey accepted, according to The Guardian & The Telegraph

Wow. So, at present (if true), Jonjo Shelvey could be our new record signing. I have to say, I'm really not up for that. The guy cost Liverpool £1.7million, and from what I've seen has done nothing to indicate he's now worth more than that, so for his price to more than triple seems frankly ludicrous. If we were signing him for £2million, or even on loan, I'd have much less of a problem with this, but unless he's been deliberately playing badly for Liverpool there's no way he justifies that transfer fee. Yesterday I put together a statistical profile of him (read it here) with the hope of convincing myself he's a rough diamond, however if anything it just reinforced my belief he's not worth the money.

Whether there's any truth in this we'll have to wait and see, but as WalesOnline pointed out it's widely accepted Shelvey was turned down as part of the Joe Allen transfer when offered in part exchange, so to now be throwing money at him seems daft. One saving grace is that Crystal Palace are also in for him, so hopefully he'll recognise he's more likely to gain regular playing time in London than in South Wales. There is the possibility that, with Allen costing £15million on top of the money agreed for Rodgers and his backroom staff, Liverpool still owe us a chunk of cash which they're hoping to cancel out by selling us Shelvey. Even if true, I still don't think that makes sense. Pozuelo cost £500k, for chrissake!

As I've stated often of late though, what do I know? I'm just a fan, and I could well go on to be eating my words as Shelvey turns into the new Frank Lampard...

Swansea rumoured to be closing in on Alejandro Pozuelo

As previously mentioned (here), the Swans are being linked with a move for Alejandro Pozuelo, a creative player who can operate either as an attacking midfielder or in the hole behind the striker. As I found out the last time I dug around online for information, it appears he's a little bit of a hot-head, and he's actually leaving Real Betis under a bit of a cloud after a contractual wrangle. Betis claimed that the amount of appearances he'd made this term automatically triggered a one-year extension to his present deal, however after a bit of back and fore it was decided that if a potential suitor was willing to pay a compensation fee (rumoured to be in the region of £450k) then the young Spanish striker would be allowed to leave.

It seems that Betis' are run very similar to the Swans if this quote from one of their directors is to be believed. He was speaking just over a week ago in regards to the possibility of Pozuelo moving on:

 “The player has no  interest in playing for Betis and  will not play, therefore. These type of  players will not be required at  this club. I’ve said many times  that players play where they  want to be” .

Hopefully he wants to play for the Swans! Why do I think he's a bit temperamental? After coming through the ranks at Betis, he made waves in the reserve "B" team, scoring 16 goals in one season and drawing attention from Manchester United and Barcelona, before making his debut for the first team in October 2011. Tipped for a bright future, he was making steady progress before an incident which seems to have gone a long way in damaging his relationship with Los Vertiblancos. Apparently, he came on as a sub with his team in the ascendancy, before being at fault for a crucial goal which ultimately led to the game finishing in a draw. That on it's own isn't so bad, but he's rumoured to have stormed into the changing room after the match criticising his team-mates. Quite inadvisable, especially if you're a youngster trying to force your way into the first-team.

Pozuelo. Or, as I like to call him, Chachi.

How's he fared when he has played? This year he's started four games and made a further seven appearances from the bench, scoring one goal and not managing any assists. To be honest, reports that I've read seem to state that after the aforementioned clash in the dressing room, he was banished to the B team, and when you consider that the previous season he started ten games (plus another eight as a sub) it does seem to indicate he'd fallen out of favour.

Statistically, he holds up fairly well despite the limited game-time he's enjoyed this season. He completed 82.8% of his passes, and despite most of his appearances being of the "token 20 minutes" variety he managed an average of 18.5 passes per game. He also managed 1.2 long balls, and 0.7 key passes per appearance, so it seems he's got an eye for a pass, but he only managed 0.7 shots per game (registering 7 in total all season), so he definitely can't be labelled a lethal finisher. Still only 21, there's plenty of time for him to rediscover the spark which once saw a £5million price-tag placed on his head, and he'll likely be viewing a move to SA1 as a fresh start. At half a million the Swans could be picking up a real bargain. Again.

Whoscored.com have his strengths as "passing & through balls", but his weaknesses make for funnier reading. In red, at the top of the list, is discipline, before aerial duels, finishing, and defensive contribution all make an appearance in a slightly less worrying orange - everyone loves a hot head, right?

This is the kind of transfer we should always be in the market for. He's young, likely to be hungry to succeed in one of the big European leagues and more importantly, it's essentially a free transfer given the ludicrous state of today's transfer market. The one worry I do have is that the Swansea squad is very tight-knit, and it'd be a shame to bring a player in who'd threaten the harmony in the dressing room. It's more than possible, however, that he'll mature into a very fine player indeed, and I for one wouldn't mind him doing that at Swansea.