Swansea City have begun another season in unconvincing fashion. Manager/Head Coach Paul Clement (whatever title he deems to call himself) blames the late activity in the summer transfer window for their inept start. Gylfi Sigurdsson, the Icelandic international was the one truly class player in a team that narrowly avoided relegation last season. Clearly Sigurdsson had expressed a desire to play for a top six club in the Premiership which he deserved, for he alone, with a vital contribution from Llorente was instrumental in keeping them in the Premiership.
In the summer, Leicester City made a derisory offer to acquire his services which the Swans quite rightly rejected. However, Everton pursued their man and by increasing their offer eventually matched the transfer fee of 45 million pounds that the Swans were demanding for their best player. Sigurdsson had earlier refused to go on the preseason tour of the USA which prompted the Swans to accept Everton’s offer. Quite why Sigurdsson agreed to join them is a matter of conjecture because they are not a top six club, and are currently languishing in the bottom third of the table along with the Swans.
Meanwhile Everton signed Wayne Rooney on a free transfer and the prodigal son has returned home creating a dilemma for Sigurdsson and their respected manager Ronald Koemann. Both players prefer to play in the “No 10” slot, and Sigurdsson currently resembles a fish out of water with Everton hovering over the relegation zone.
Clement signed three midfield players, Clucas, Mesa and wonder kid Sanchez to replace Sigurdsson, none of whom have set the Premiership on fire. They overpaid for Clucas who admittedly was quite effective for relegated Hull City. But 15 million pounds for an average player? Do me a favor!!! Mesa was the first to be signed in the summer for 11 million pounds designed most probably to replace the aging but very effective Leon Britton. Let’s not forget, Clement was pressured into recalling Britton for the relegation battle, and he duly delivered adding calmness, solidity and direction to a struggling team.
Unaccountably Britton was omitted from the starting line up in the opening matches of the new season. Mesa didn’t replace him because in Clement’s opinion the little Spaniard was not ready to play at the pace of the Premiership having starred in La Liga last season. However, it is more than a coincidence that the Swans recorded their first victory in over a month against Huddersfield when Britton was restored to the team.
I don’t quite know why the Club’s scouts could not have prepared a better assessment of Mesa’s talents commensurate with the Premier League. They can’t use the feeble excuse of not knowing what a Spanish player is capable of in the Premiership when Mesa is the twelfth Spanish player signed by the Club or has featured in the team since they won promotion to the Premiership.
Angel Rangel was the first Spanish player signed way back in 2007 by ironically a Spanish manager, Roberto Martinez. The other Spaniards to follow in his foot steps are Jordi Armat, Michu, Andrea Orlandi, Pablo Hernandez, Chico Flores, Jose Canas, Alvaro Vazquez, Alejandro Pozuelo, Borja Baston, and Fernando Llorente.
The impact of the Spanish Armada on the Club has met with mixed fortunes. Rangel has proved to be one of the stalwarts of the team costing next to nothing. Chico Flores formed a formidable defensive partnership with Ashley Williams and his transfer fee didn’t break the bank. Michu proved to be one of the bargain buys in Premierhip history. He cost 2 million pounds and in his first season scored 22 goals from midfield. Unfortunately he was plagued by injury and didn’t complete another full season before returning to Spain.
On the negative side, the Swans paid 15.5 million for Borja Baston in 2016 on the basis that he scored 18 goals in his last season in La Liga. Unfortunately he failed to replicate his prowess as a goal scorer in the Premiership, achieving one solitary goal in 20 appearances. During the summer, he was packed off on loan to a Spanish club the name of which escapes me. However Llorente, a striker with World Cup pedigree and 3 Serie A titles on his resume was snapped up for 5 million pounds around the same time as Baston was travelling in the opposite direction, and repaid the Club by scoring 15 precious goals to help secure another season in the Premiership.
Nevertheless, 26.5 million has been wastefully spent on Baston and Mesa with little return for the money. A Club of Swansea’s size can ill afford to spend that amount of money and receive precious little in return. I have no idea who is in charge of scouting for new players, but he deserves a kick up the backside. Better still, it’s time he received his P45.
