Birmingham 1 - 2 Swansea - The Wilfried Bony show!

Ivorian predator again shows his worth with two-goal rescue mission at St Andrews

Another rainy day, and by all accounts another outing which threatened to be another damp squib of an afternoon for Swansea fans. Thankfully, we seem able (for the time being at least) to rely on the goalscoring prowess of one Wilfried Bony, who's now got six in his last five games. Not bad for a player who "doesn't run enough".

It's been much commented that Ash had a bit of a tirade in the first half when he felt performance levels weren't good enough, apparently telling Alvaro (loudly) that they needed more from him, but Bony's introduction in the second half thankfully paved the way for two goals in two minutes, and all of a sudden we're in the next round of the FA Cup.

I think the less said the better about that match other than Bony's fantastic finishing, but I would like to give two players a mention. Firstly, Roland Lamah was involved in both of Bony's goals, but if you watch the first goal closely it appears to be Jordi Amat who took the ball on and drove at the defence. Given he's taken a somewhat reluctant bit of criticism for his midfield displays (with fans acknowledging it's not really his fault if he's not cut out for a midfield role), it was good to see him taking the ball on into a dangerous position, and retaining possession whilst creating an attacking opportunity which ultimately led to a goal.

I'll leave it at that for now, but keep your eyes peeled for a Fulham preview upcoming later today, and before that there'll be blogs looking at the latest transfer news as well as the all new Swansea City podcast - TheJackCast. Exciting times!

Is Wilfried Bony the biggest bargain in the PL so far this season?

In terms of strikers, anyway...

A little while ago I did an article looking at Bony's stats, and how they compared to other striker's in the Premier League (read it here: link), and after a bit more pondering - plus seeing a bit more of other team's star acquisitions, I'm starting to wonder whether he's proving to be the most effective big-money centre forward signing of the summer. Drawing on a transfers list I found on the official PL website (link), I thought it would be interesting to compare how the £12million recruit from Vitesse stands up when his goal return is put alongside other Premiership strikers acquired this past summer.

I could ramble on about it, or I could just stick a load of stats in a spreadsheet. The latter seemed likely to involve less thinking, so I did just that. All statistics are courtesy of www.whoscored.com.

Two things strike me straight off the bat when looking at those statistics. Firstly, you get what you pay for and secondly, you can spot a team's playing style fairly clearly. Long ball merchants - low pass completion. Short passes to feet, high pass completion. When looking through players for fantasy football (join The Swansea Way league here) I noticed Steven Fletcher had the lowest pass completion of any outfield player to have played a significant amount of games (fifty something percent), but I still think he's class, so whether you can read too much into a striker's pass completion I don't know. It could perhaps be seen as more of a reflection of a team's playing style than anything else, but I do think that if Bony, for example, was underperforming it'd show up more, and that his pass completion would be significantly lower.

I'll keep this short and sweet. It's no secret I'm a massive fan of Wilfried Bony, and it's now starting to look like this season could be more of a case of him bedding in and getting up to speed with the league and the level of fitness expected of a Premier League centre forward. In the meantime, his goal tally more than stands up against any of this summer's big money signings, and he's only recently got a decent run in the team in front of three proper central midfielders.

Whether he'll feature against Norwich is doubtful given his exertions in the Europa League, and with Michu rested it's likely the Spaniard will lead the line. Having two players capable of bagging themselves ten plus goals a season will always, always see you a long way to securing another season's Premier League football, and over the last few weeks I'm sure I've noticed a thawing of previously frosty opinions of the Ivorian on Twitter in particular.

With plenty of games left to play, who knows how many goals our two forwards will bag themselves. How many do you think Bony and Michu will score? Get involved in the comment section below or tweet  @TheSwanseaWay!

Bony has 10 in 13 starts, but how does he compare to other PL strikers?

Fans have been slow to warm to the iron-thighed Ivorian, can his stats help win people over?

First off (as any regular readers of the blog will know) I'm a massive fan of Wilfried Bony. For me, ten goals in thirteen starts is more than enough to warrant any striker retaining his spot in the team, but as I say it'd be interesting to see how "similar" players stack up statistically.

Bony has 4 Premier League goals in ten PL appearances (although he's only started five times). That gives him 533 minutes on the field of play, which works out to 133.25 minutes per goal. In all competitions his rate actually gets even better, with ten goals in eighteen appearances (thirteen starts) at a rate of a goal every 118.1 minutes. Not bad for a player some have accused of...well...just about everything negative you can shout at someone you're supposed to be supporting.

When compared with other strikers (and you include assists in the build up to goals), Bony is involved in a goal every 106.4 minutes (17th best in the league) - and honestly, the players with better figures than that are unsurprising in their stature. Directly above him are Giroud, Negredo, Lukaku & Sturridge, while the list is topped by others such as Podolski, the Ox, Suarez & Aguero. If you filter out players who've made minimal appearances (Podolski, Lamela, Oxlade-Chamberlain and, remarkably, Pablo), Wilfried Bony rises to 13th best in the PL. Not bad considering the competition, and the amount of stick he's been receiving.

Furthermore, Bony is dispossessed on average once a game, and gives it up through poor control on average twice per ninety minutes. When compared with Sturridge (2.9 & 2.5), Suarez (2.3 & 2.8) and Aguero (2.8 & 2.6), it really isn't that bad, and fans should get off his back if he attempts a flick which doesn't come off. He's got the ability, but if he's berated any time he tries anything other than to retain possession with a five yard pass he's unlikely to score many goals, such will be his reluctance to actually try to create something.

Ok, so I've plucked some random stats out and if I really wanted to make an argument for Bony to improve based on numbers I could probably have done so, however his statistics back up what I've been saying for a while - he's doing alright. Once properly "Premier League fit" and bedded into the side, he will score lots of goals. My main concern is he will get fed up of the vocal minority who clearly don't understand his game, and sling his hook in the summer - my gut instinct tells me that next season will be his break out season and I for one want him to spend it in SA1.

Wilfried Bony - understated, underrated and under-appreciated. I quite like that...

Bony: "I want to score every week"

The Jack Army is with you, brother...

Fresh from scoring two goals which went a long way to turning around the match against Stoke, Wilfried Bony has been chatting with Skysports about how things have been going so far:

"I am just adjusting to the best league in the word. The challenge is to convince people because of the money the club paid for me - it has not been easy but I am getting there. 

"The manager trusts me and has a plan to use me to help me find my feet in the league, scoring twice in the league against Stoke City on Saturday was very good, I want to score every week for the club but I know that is difficult to do but I will try. 

"I believe in myself and hope to make my name in the League. I want to earn a starting place for the national team and prove myself in the World Cup in Brazil, but we need to close the game against Senegal [this weekend] and realise our dream." 

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9024797/swansea-star-wilfried-bony-adapting-to-premier-league?

I always try to analyse what players say to the press to see if we can infer some hidden meaning (whether the player meant it or not) and the fact that Bony has acknowledged it's "not been easy to convince the fans he's worth the money" possibly shows he's more than aware of the abuse he's been getting from the stands and online. Hopefully Sunday's brace will silence the doubters and give him some added time with which to continue adjusting and work on his overall fitness.

Hopefully it won't be long until "Bony" features on videprinters up and down the country on a weekly basis. I'm not a betting man, but I wouldn't bet against it. Just to remind us all of what he can do, let's have a look at a video of his goals last season.

Goals goals goals! More of the same please mate...

The reason fans will take time to warm to Wilfried Bony

Most fans, myself included, simply don't know what to expect from a top-level striker over ninety minutes

So far this season, there has been a vocal minority (what other type of minority is there?) who have felt it prudent to lay into Wilfried Bony both during matches and at any other juncture they can get their point heard. What good people expect to achieve by screaming obscenities at him while he's trying to score goals for us I don't know, but it's still happening. Even after he scored twice against Stoke, some fans were still reportedly giving him grief, and that to me is simply mind-boggling.

I've been thinking for a while that maybe there's an underlying reason he's coming in for stick. The only other striker who has received this level of criticism from Swansea fans in recent times was Jason Scotland, and let's be honest, he did well for us. Frustrations about him "not running around enough" were in my eyes laughable, and similar accusations are now being levelled at Bony.

Here's my thinking. I'm 27, and spent my formative years watching the Swans battle it out at various levels of lower league football - however we spent most of the time playing poor football with little quality up front. Let's have a look at some of the strikers I grew up watching. Steve Torpey, Aiden Newhouse, Tony Bird, Walter Boyd, Tommy Mutton, John Williams, Steve Watkin, Mamady Sidibe, Kevin Nugent... the list goes on, but it goes on without really inspiring. Giovanni Savarese was a cut above the rest, and Lee Trundle was obviously...Lee Trundle, but if we're being honest apart from those two none of the strikers in the list above were particularly likely to wow fans with their goalscoring exploits, much less put on a masterful display of centre-forwardery. 

We can look back further. Since the Swans fall from grace in the early eighties, it's likely to have been much of the same. I can't speak from experience as I wasn't alive/in a position to witness many of these seasons, however it seems unlikely we had a top-level striker plying his trade in the number 9 or 10 shirt. This all leads me to the conclusion that for a good twenty years (or thereabouts), fans will have been used to watching their strikers spend more time chasing lost causes into the corner than pulling a rabbit out of a hat and stuffing one in from 30 yards.

This is exemplified by the criticisms of Bony and Scotland before him. "Run around more", "get into him", "move about some more" - these are all things I regularly hear shouted from the stands but I disagree completely. I've stated my tactical reasoning before - we have one striker and if he did spend 90 minutes chasing shadows we wouldn't have a focal point to build off when we do regain possession. I'm pretty sure we didn't spend £12million on a striker only for him to "run around a lot".

My point is though that, myself included, it's unlikely many Swansea fans know what a top level striker looks like in the flesh for ninety minutes. Do they charge around like a bull in a china shop for the entirety of every match? No doubt some do, but I'd wager more operate like Bony - cerebral, and capable of doing nothing for large swathes of the game before popping up with some important goals.

I don't know what Robin Van Persie does for ninety minutes. I never saw Ruud Van Nistelrooy in the flesh. I've no idea what fat Ronaldo used to for most of the match, but I'd wager all had a habit of simply biding their time before their opportunity arose. By playing in this manner, it also allows them to retain extra energy to deploy as and when needed. No point shooting your load too early. Ahem. 

Let's have a look at Bony's stats. He's started thirteen games and come off the bench five times, and he now has ten goals. Not bad eh? When you take into consideration that, in the Premier League, he's now got a goal every 133 minutes (8th best of any player) it appears criticism has been unfounded. He's clearly still gaining a degree of match fitness, and is still adjusting to his new team, but his performances so far give reason for us to believe we could have signed an absolute gem. Don't forget he missed most of our pre-season too - AND had to adjust from what is a bit of a joke league to arguably the best league in the world. For him to have racked up this many goals (albeit, four of his ten have come in the Europa League) deserves credit in my opinion - not abuse from the stands.

Much like Wilfried Bony is adapting to a new style of playing, we as fans are still adapting to top level football. It's not our fault if we're not used to seeing an actual quality centre-forward - but the least we can do is give him the time he needs to succeed.

Wilfried Bony splits fanbase much like Jason Scotland did...

With a growing number of fans appearing unhappy with the performance levels of our record signing, just what is it they're complaining about?

There's a reason I started this website. I grew sick and tired of reading the same arguments played out time and time again on all the other main websites/forums populated by the Jack Army, as all too often I found myself become both frustrated and involved in heated debates regarding certain Swansea players. Jason Scotland was a prime example of this. Despite scoring hatfuls of goals whenever he was selected, some people just couldn't get past the fact that he didn't spend ninety minutes chasing shadows and as such, he "clearly wasn't working hard enough".

Now, there's a very good reason an ideal Swansea City centre-forward doesn't spend ninety minutes chasing anything that moves. In case anyone hasn't noticed, we play with one striker. I know, shocking, right? For large swathes of last season it could also be argued we actually played without a recognised striker, given Michu's preference for a deeper role and his tendency to wander. 

When you operate in the manner the Swans do, it's vitally important we have an outlet who maintains a central position throughout the game. By doing this, he allows the team to rotate around him while constantly being available for a pass, and the team can stretch play to maximise the benefits of this style. The problem is it's been so long since we had a striker capable of playing this role (going back to Scotland, in fact) that I think we've forgotten how to get the most out of a quality lone striker, and what we're seeing is as much an adjustment from the team as it is an acclimatisation on Bony's part. If Bony was consistently hitting the corners, he wouldn't be in the middle to supply the finish. Simple.

Some of the comments on fans' forums are absolutely ludicrous. Were they even watching the game? Some were saying "Bony was isolated" in the first half - he was constantly surrounded by Michu, Routledge and got knows who else, and the effect was he had absolutely no space to operate in and plenty of opposition defenders nearby to close him down. Another said he "gets knocked off the ball too easily" - err...WHAT!? I'm sorry, you clearly haven't been watching the same games as me, as Bony looks to be the strongest player I've ever seen pull on the white shirt of Swansea City, and possibly the strongest player I've ever seen! Once he sticks his arse out, he's not losing the ball. End of.

Someone else coyly remarked that if Bony spent 90 minutes running around like Adrian Forbes, then fans would have taken to him instantly. Probably true, but would you rather have Forbesy or Bony up front for you in the Premier League? The guy scored a ridiculous amount of goals for Vitesse last season, Laudrup rates him enough to start him in the Premier League and we've spent £12million on him. What's the point of getting on his back this early in his Swans' career? Watch the Valencia highlights again and look at his flick in the buildup to one of the goals - it's an exquisite first touch and anyone who's accused him of lacking just that is wrong, in my opinion.

Don't forget, he's jumped to a higher league, and missed a large part of our pre-season due to his late arrival. The official site published a statistical analysis of his performance against Sunderland which confirmed what I thought - pretty much every ball that was played into him stuck, and that's such a novel thing to be able to say about a Swansea City centre-forward after a few years of, if we're being honest, makeweights. I was as big a fan of Danny Graham as anyone else, but Bony is a difference class of striker. 

We have seen far from the best of Wilfried Bony, but he's still our top scorer. Give him time, and he will reward us with goal, after goal, after goal. Of that I'm sure. 

Vorm: "Bony is a monster - he shoots so hard, it's not normal!"

Dutch 'keeper reveals he doesn't relish trying to stop the Ivorian frontman's efforts in training

With record signing Wilfried Bony still acclimatising to South Wales, some fans have started to get a little frustrated by a perceived lack of effort, but, as most people would agree, he's already shown enough for us to believe he has the potential to be a very good player for Swansea City indeed. 

Speaking to Dutch paper De Telegraaf, 'keeper Michel Vorm gave his new team-mate a massive vote of confidence:

"In the dressing room you see just what a monster he is. Physically he is bizarrely strong. He can really scare you senseless. He is still not playing as much as he would like, but he has already scored six times. In training you see he is a real goal machine but he goes about his business very quietly, and he shoots so hard, it's not normal. 

"When I think about Robin [Van Persie] I always think about ballet. Everything he does is so graceful. Bony is a very different player, a powerful African, but also has good technique. 

"If he plays every week he will score 15 or 20 goals. I'm 100 per cent sure of it." Michel Vorm  (Link)

Well, if he was talking to me it would very much be a case of preaching to the choir, but I hope this helps some fans who have been having difficulty warming to big Wilf. So far his game-time in the league has been extremely limited, but personally I've been quite impressed. I think he's going to go on to do amazing things for us, and I expect him to start hitting the back of the net soon. I'm expecting a big performance one of these days, where everyone sits up and realises we've acquired a player of real quality. 

I'd previously called Bony "A bull with ballerina's feet", and while Vorm didn't quite echo that sentiment he clearly rates his team-mate. Seeing as he's in charge of stopping the guy in training, he'd know. 

Pablo Hernandez: "We can beat anyone"

Spanish winger looking forward to Europa League tie, and confident of a good showing at Spurs

Having played in European competition before, Pablo Hernandez is aware of what it takes to succeed at that level. He's previously made it to the quarter finals of the Europa League (coincidentally under Laudrup at Getafe), as well as scoring against Manchester United for Valencia in the group stages of the Champions League, so despite missing both legs of the Swans' European opener it's unlikely the winger will be fazed heading into tomorrow's game against Petrolul.

"I think I can help the team and help the other players having been in this competition before. I played in the Europa League for two years and two years in the Champions League. I am not the only one, there are others here who know what it is like, so it is up to those with experience to make sure we help others because it is important for us. 

"The most important thing is making sure we go to Romania with a good score, and if we can get to the groups anything is possible. It is an opportunity for us, but the most important thing is to first get through these two games and see where we can go. 

"We cannot forget the Premier League and we have a hard game in between these matches. After losing the first match we have another big team in Tottenham and it's not an easy start for us, but I think the team can go to Tottenham and win and show we can win away in the next two games. 

"We always play the same way, the same football. The team won't change their mentality for a new competition — we will stick to what we do.The most important thing is to have confidence in the team, the squad we have, the football we play and we can win a lot of games. 

"United wasn't good for us, but in the past we have shown we can hold our own against the big teams and can beat anyone. It was good to be back, but it was disappointing to lose...but it was the champions, a very good side, so we have to realise that. 

"We had confidence before the game but it wasn't possible to get the result and it was a hard score for us to take. Now we have an important match in Europe and our thoughts are only on this game.

"My injury is okay. It was disappointing to miss games but I can play now and I have confidence and want to help the team. We must make sure we have a good result from the first leg before going to Romania." Pablo Hernandez

Hernandez is right in saying that on our day we can beat anyone - except, possibly, Manchester United. Moyes seemed to have our number at Everton and to be honest I can see us continuing to struggle against an even better team going about under his instruction, but as long as we don't draw them in cup competitions we've only got to play them once more this season, so worrying about that too much is rather pointless.

More pressing is the game at the Liberty tomorrow. Pablo will be keen to start having been brought on at half time at half-time against United, and he'll be looking to get back to where he was around the time of the friendly against Reading. The winger looked very, very good in pre-season, and was linking excellently with Jonjo Shelvey, Wilfried Bony & Michu, so it'll be interesting to see how they'll get on together in competitive fixtures.

Hernandez isn't the only Swan with European experience. Ki has played for Celtic in the Europa League as well as featuring in a Champions League loss to Braga, while Wilfried Bony was previously the Europa League's top scorer whilst at Sparta Prague, hitting nine goals in the process. When he officially signed for the Swans he made it clear he's looking to do well in Europe this year:

“I believe it’s the right step for me; the perfect move. I had a lot of offers from all across the world, including England, France, Ukraine, Russia and the UAE, but I chose Swansea because it is a good club with a corresponding style, a great manager and, of course, playing in the Premier League. 

"I considered everything and Swansea came out on top. I had my best season last year at Vitesse with 36 goals in all competitions. It is going to be tougher in the Premier League to score goals, but I will try my best. Everything is possible. 

"Now it is important that I focus my mind on the challenge ahead because I hope to make the Swansea fans very happy. The Europa League is my first focus - I enjoy playing in Europe and I'm used to it." Wilfried Bony

Let's hope that the growing level of experience in the squad is put to good use in Europe this year. Get past Petrolul Ploiesti and we'll be through to the group stages, and that's where the fun will really start.

Swansea thrash Yeovil 5-0, Dyer to sign new contract & Swans waiting on Bony work permit

The Swans come out on top at Huish Park

I have to say I'm liking this new technologically-savvy approach from the Swans; all summer we've had lots of videos from the tour to Holland and they've been pretty good at uploading the highlights of the friendlies within a day or so of the game taking place. Quicker than we're used to from SwansPlayer...

Wow. Rory Donnelly! While his goal was easily the pick of the bunch, you can understand why numerous people have stated Pablo was the standout performer - his through ball for Michu's goal was top class, and he combined with his team-mates brilliantly throughout the match. I'm expecting big things from Pablo this season, and at present I've no reason to think I'll be disappointed come May.

Yeovil manager Gary Johnson was effusive in his praise for the Swans after the match, repeatedly stating how the South Walians are "world-class" which, considering we were operating at the same level as Yeovil only a few short years ago should help gauge how far we've come in such a short space of time.

Dyer close to agreeing new contract

A few weeks ago I was talking Swansea with a mate, and we realised Nathan Dyer's contract was due to expire at the end of the season (remarkably the only first team player of which that can be said). Given how other players had been tied down before it got to this stage, we started to worry whether there was something going on which we weren't privy to; however any such ideas have been firmly dispelled by Huw's announcement that a new contract is in the final stages of negotiation.

"Nathan is in the last year of his contract, but we are well on the way to sorting that situation out with Nathan's agent." Huw speaking to the Evening Post

Nathan Dyer. Great selection of hats.

While Dyer's end product isn't perhaps as good as Routledge or Hernandez's, the efforts he's made to improve this aspect of his game can't be ignored. When he first signed for the Swans the Jack Army quickly got used to closing their eyes whenever Nath was bearing down on goal, such were his finishing capabilities; indeed stories abounded of fans going to the open training sessions and coming away bemused at his inability to get shots on target. Not any more, though. It's obvious Dyer has put hour after hour in on the training ground, and seeing him place finishes past the keeper in the Premier League is truly a sight that makes my heart glow with pride; not only is it a goal for the Swans but it's a triumph of hard work and dedication.

Hopefully this will be tied up soon and we'll be seeing Nathan Dyer in a Swansea shirt for years to come yet. He seems to like it here, and if the Swans progress any further he must surely be in with a shout at representing England, given he's still (amazingly) only 25. Don't forget, he's also British which, at the moment, is an attribute we drastically need our players to possess given regulations surrounding "homegrown players". I for one am more than pleased Dyer is looking to sign back on; he's been an excellent servant so far and let's hope he can kick on again and go on to write his name firmly into the annals of Swansea history.

Bony still training with Vitesse as he awaits work-permit decision

This is the rather disappointing news that club-record signing Wilfried Bony is still in Holland pending a green light from the powers that be. You'd hope this is nothing more than a frustrating formality, but the sooner he can make his way to SA1 the better - especially with the weather like this! If we're to sell Swansea as a location, it seriously, seriously helps when the sun is shining; Laudrup remarked in a video from training that last July was "horrible, just horrible...rain, rain and more rain", and the prospect of spending a good few years in South Wales must surely gain a touch of gloss when you're shown the beaches of the Gower. A touch of the Toshack, as it were.

Laudrup is clearly looking forward to the Ivorian international arriving:

"The club are still working on Wilfried's work permit. He's still in Holland and we gave him permission to train with Vitesse because otherwise it would be too many days without doing anything. It's something we have to cope with as he is a player from outside the European Union. 

"He hasn't been to Swansea yet, but I hope he will be here next week. I heard from the club and they hope it will be during this week. It would be nice to have him back for training on Thursday. It's best to have the player here. Now we've signed him it's not so good if he is only in Holland. We want him here." Michael Laudrup

You're not alone, Michael... 

Bony officially signs!

Ivorian ace finally pens 4-year deal, while the Swans are reported to be talking to Esteban Granero & Wakaso Mubarak

Well it's finally official! The club's website has been in overdrive the last few days; posting updates of the tour and interviews with new signings, so it's understandable that it took over 24 hours after photos emerged of Bony in Swans attire for his signature to be announced on the club website. This is likely due to the fact that the deal was originally agreed verbally, so no doubt the club were erring on the side of caution in regards to announcing a club-record-breaking transfer.

One thing to note is that whilst playing for Sparta Prague, Bony finished top scorer of the Europa League - bagging nine goals in the process, and having another crack at European competition is clearly something which he's looking forward to;

"This move has been talked about for quite some time, so I am delighted it is all completed. Now it is important that I focus my mind on the challenge ahead because I hope to make the Swansea fans very happy.

“I watched Swansea a lot last season on TV. They have some good players and I like the way they play. I appreciate the style, which is similar to the Dutch way, and I think being at Swansea will help me develop as a player.

“I believe it’s the right step for me; the perfect move. I had a lot of offers from all across the world, including England, France, Ukraine, Russia and the UAE, but I chose Swansea because it is a good club with a corresponding style, a great manager and, of course, playing in the Premier League.

"I considered everything and Swansea came out on top. I had my best season last year at Vitesse with 36 goals in all competitions. It is going to be tougher in the Premier League to score goals, but I will try my best. Everything is possible.

"Now it is important that I focus my mind on the challenge ahead because I hope to make the Swansea fans very happy. The Europa League is my first focus - I enjoy playing in Europe and I'm used to it.

"I am looking forward to joining the training camp out here in Holland as a Swansea player and building up good communications with the team and coaching staff as quickly as possible." Wilfried Bony

Bony seems a powerful finisher very much in the mould of Didier Drogba, and that's a type of player we've been sadly missing in recent times. Michu did his best to address that problem, but he clearly didn't enjoy being battered by, normally, a pair of burly centre-backs and much prefers making late runs into the box - it's high time the Swans had a player capable of retaining possession up front, because to be honest since the departure of Jason Scotland we haven't really had a striker capable of both building play, and scoring lots of goals.

Here's something to whet your appetite...

Swansea in talks over Esteban Granero

This has been rumoured for quite a while, and it seems there's now something to this. His agent has been quoted by Skysports as saying Swansea is an "acceptable destination" for his client:

"The two clubs are talking about a transfer, it's true. Michael Laudrup knows him very well from their time at Getafe, where together they had a great UEFA Cup campaign.

"Swansea are also looking at many Spanish players and play in Europe next year, [so] the destination would be absolutely acceptable to Esteban."

In true impartial style, Skysports neglected to include the bit at the end where the agent said "...but his preferred destination is Italy" - but let's be honest why would you let some words affect a potential rumour?
Personally I think we're loaded up on midfielders now, and if he comes in surely someone else may be departing? Ki seemed out of favour at times last season, and I sincerely hope that he won't be a casualty of Laudrup "building a side in his own image".

Swans told to up their offer for Wakaso Mubarak

As mentioned a few days ago, it seems we're interested in bringing Espanyol winger Mubarak to the Liberty. While it seems we were originally offering a fee of around £3.5million, it looks like closer to £5million will now be required for the Swans to get their man. They didn't specify who it was who'd had a bid turned down, but it's widely believed to be Swansea City:

"We have received an offer from a European club but we will not sell on these terms." Espanyol director Jose Luis Morlanes

A full Ghanaian international, he's impressed for his country of late and has scored a few absolute screamers; notably this one: (I've linked it before but it deserves another watch - it's Villareal's third goal).

For less than £5million, if he can indeed compete at PL level that's a pretty decent bargain for an attacking winger. Let's be honest, I wouldn't spend that on Stewart Downing...

Swansea agree £12million deal for Wilfried Bony

The Swans smash their transfer record by verbally agreeing a deal which could reportedly rise by another million or two including add-ons

After what seems to have been an age it looks like we've finally got our man. We're still awaiting an announcement from either club regarding the move, however a picture of Bony with Huw has surfarced on Twitter:

Bony with Huw Jenkins and, I assume, Bony's representative

I'm sure that Huw, Laudrup and Bony himself will be keen to get on with things now, and with the Swans on tour in Holland it's worked out rather swimmingly. Hopefully he can join up with his new team-mates in the next 24 hours or so, but with the next friendly coming against NAC Breda tomorrow it's unlikely all the work permit gubbins will be tied up in time (although I have a feeling that wouldn't matter in a friendly?) for him to feature. A distinct possibility, however, is that he'll be available to line up against ADO Den Haag this coming Saturday, so we may not have to wait too long to see him in a Swansea shirt, as opposed to holding one...

Welcome to the club Wilfried! May your time here be goal-laden.

Swansea hoping to learn more on Bony this weekend

Dutch media reporting Huw is getting tired of waiting for Vitesse to come back to us

The latest twist in the will-he-won't-he transfer saga that's currently surrounding Wilfried Bony is that Huw Jenkins is hoping to hear back from his Dutch counterparts before the weekend is over. It seems likely that Vitesse are now stalling in the hope of a bidding war emerging - if that does happen you feel that would almost certainly end the Swans' interest in the striker, given the lofty fee already being proposed.

You can hardly blame them for hanging on in the hope of maximising the deal, however when the player himself wants to come to Swansea then you can only stand in the way so long. For his part, the Ivorian is clearly keen to play his football in South Wales:

'The clubs are now talking to each other, Swansea has made Vitesse a bid and I hope it's good,' 

'Swansea is a wonderful club. It's my chance to play in the Premier League and they also play attractive football. 

'I understood from my agent that Swansea want to pay €12 million [£10.2m] for me and that is what Vitesse want to receive, so I hope there is some good news soon.' Wilfried Bony

Despite Swansea director John Van Zweden claiming that the club and the player were "way apart when it comes to agreeing on wages", it seems that Huw himself is still confident of agreeing a deal, even if the latest news from Holland seems to be he's growing tired of waiting for a response. Bearing in mind that has been translated using Google (sadly, Dutch isn't a language I'm fluent in), here's what Huw had to say on the matter:

"We have not the slightest progress. We've offered twelve million offered, plus on top of that different bonuses, but we are still waiting for a response from Vitesse. Hopefully they let us know something in the weekend"

So, if these latest quotes are to believed the fee is around 12million Euros plus, probably, add-ons in the form of sell-on clauses. This really is big money now! My gut instinct is that Bony himself won't be the problem - and that's also backed up by Huw (again, apologies for the translation):

"That is absolute nonsense. First, the clubs are out, then we talk only with the player on his salary. I can not imagine that this is going to be a problem.

"His style of football fits perfectly into our system. Bony is physically strong and very smart. He also has the right age and may continue to evolve. Finally - his character would fit well at Swansea. Bony really wants to come to our club."       Huw Jenkins

That's all rather encouraging, eh? Still a case of wait and see, but it seems we'll know something before the end of the weekend. If we don't, it could well be back to the drawing board as we search for a striker to relieve Michu of his goalscoring burden.

The Swans sign Jordi Amat, but there's still no agreement regarding Wilfried Bony

Skysports are also reporting we're close to agreeing terms with 17 year old Slovenian 'keeper Gregor Zabret

Coming as it did at a time when all the talk was of Wilfried Bony's much reported transfer to the Swans, Jordi Amat could be forgiven for feeling like the announcement of signature was somewhat underwhelming. Perhaps a better indication of the potential bargain the Swans have picked up is that his name was still trending on Twitter long into today. Whether that indicates a lot of people were talking about him or that it was a slow news days day we can't say.

If you'd like to read a bit more on Jordi Amat, I put together a profile HERE with a load of stats for your perusal. Something which is a lot easier to digest though is this; his only goal of the season last year.

While we can hardly expect him to do that kind of thing with any regularity, his stats suggest he's got an eye for a pass and can rival Ash when it comes to pinging one out to the wingers - that'll give us greater threat on the counter-attack and won't go unnoticed by the Swansea coaching staff.

Swansea close to signing Gregor Zabret

According to Skysports, the young Slovenian spent time with the Swans in January and is going to be finalising a deal over the weekend, before joining up with the club's pre-season tour of Holland. Honestly? I've never heard of the guy and there's scant information online, but I'll have a look at some point to see if I can dig up any information online. It seems he's highly rated, and he's already made quite a few appearances in the first team for NK Domzale, who finished third in the Slovenian league last year, so hopefully in time he'll turn out to be a useful addition to the squad.

No news regarding Bony move

The latest on this is likely to come down to whether you believe what you read on Twitter or not. Some sources are claiming he's asked for £80kpw in wages, which I struggle to believe, but Swans director John Van Zweden has been quoted in the Dutch press as saying the club and the player are "way apart" in terms of agreeing a deal at the moment. 

Hopefully they'll agree something, because with all the fanfare now surrounding this move it would be a real shame to miss out - and it's also possibly something which could leave fans panicking that the club will be short a striker come the beginning of the season. It's not panic stations just yet, but everyone knows the Swans need a frontman and if it comes down to the wire they may well find that clubs stick an extra few million on any proposed fee. 

Which probably means we won't end up signing anyone, thinking about it...

Wilfried Bony set to sign for the Swans! (According to his agent)

Club are still yet to confirm deal, but agent claims a 12million Euro deal has been agreed

Wow. If this is true, I did not see this coming. Speaking to De Gelderlander, Bony's agent Francis Kacou has stated that Bony has agreed terms with the Swans, and will swap Holland for South Wales imminently.

I won't be the only person who is borderline flabbergasted that the Swans have stretched to a fee of this size, but if we're doing it you can guarantee it's because we can afford it. Heady times indeed. Here's a video of Bony in action last season, where he scored 31 goals in 30 games for Vitesse, finishing top scorer in the Eredivisie:

Seems the real deal eh? Hopefully we're getting a player who'll replicate the exploits of Ruud Van Nistelrooy as opposed to Alfonso Alves, but with a goals to game ratio exceeding that of any player I've come across in Europe this year I'm pretty confident we've signed a real star in Bony.

Since I posted this article, Vitesse have claimed that no agreement has been reached, but Wilfried Bony himself has broken his silence on the matter:

"The clubs are now talking to each other, Swansea has made Vitesse a bid and I hope it's good. Swansea is a wonderful club. It's my chance to play in the Premier League and they also play attractive football.

"I understood from my agent that Swansea want to pay €12 million for me and that is what Vitesse want to receive, so I hope there is some good news soon." Wilfried Bony

Well, that's encouraging isn't it? Hopefully it now won't be too long until we announce his signature...

Transfer rumour roundup

A look at the plethora of players we've been linked with over the last few days

Well, the media circus has now gone into overdrive. As one friend has suggested, it's possible the Swans are being used by agents to drum up interest in their clients by putting their name into a sentence with "Swansea City", but it seems there's something in at least one or two of the rumours. 

Probably the most exciting name to crop up is that of Wilfried Bony. The Ivorian set the Eredivisie alight - scoring 31 goals in 30 league games (43 in 62 through all competitions), and is valued at £10mil+ by his club Vitesse. Likely? Who knows. If we're going to pay up to around £10million for a player, which I'm still not convinced will be the case, I'd rather we spend it on Bony than Bafetimbi Gomis, who is rated at around the same price but has never had a season as prolific as the man from the Ivory Coast.

One rumour which seems to have an element of truth in it is that we've made a loan bit for Matej Vydra. His agent has said that up to eight clubs are interested in his client's signature, and that Swansea are one of a number of clubs who've made loan bids for last year's Championship Player of the Season. I'll be honest, I didn't watch too much of the Championship last year but if he stood out that much playing for a Watford team littered with supposed "star loanees", picking him up without having to pay a fee could well be a really tidy bit of business. He's valued at between £8million and £10million by his parent club Udinese, but they seem willing to let him spend another season on loan as he looks to kick on again.

Jordi Amat is another name that's now been linked with the club for a while, and the Spanish centre-back is rumoured to be close to signing, while we've also reportedly had a bid accepted for Nathan Redmond - the latter is an exciting prospect, very much in the Scott Sinclair mould, while the defensive cover Amat would bring could be key if Kyle Bartley departs, as expected, on loan to Birmingham.

Last but not least, yesterday Jonjo Shelvey dropped to 1/8 to be at the Swans next season, and the press seem to be running with the idea we want to sign him for £5million. To be completely honest, I've never seen Shelvey play well and I'm really not enthused by this one, but as usual I'm completely willing to be proved wrong. There's a reason I'm not a football manager. 

Actually, there's probably a couple...