Swansea City saw off stiff competition from rival clubs to clinch the signing of Matty Sorinola from Union SG.
The 21-year-old will spend the duration of the upcoming campaign on loan at the Swansea.com Stadium in what looks to be a hugely encouraging piece of business for Russell Martin's men. Indeed, Sorinola knows the head coach only too well from their time at MK Dons having played both alongside and under the 36-year-old who became boss after initially starting as a player at Stadium MK.
And Sorinola - who also knows Harry Darling and Andy Fisher - says Martin's character was a huge influence in his decision to switch to SA1 amid interest from Huddersfield Town and others. “I know the style of play, I know what Russell wants as a manager, and I know what he is like as a person, which was a big thing for me," he said.
READ MORE: Swansea City announce fourth summer signing as Sorinola reveals lofty ambitions
“I can’t wait to get back on the pitch with him. This way of playing gives you that freedom to express yourself. For me it is the way football should be played, so it is good for me. I like being on the ball and I feel it suits me really well.
“I made my debut playing alongside him, I think he was coming towards the end of his time as a player if I can say that! But I definitely was keen to work with him again.”
Sorinola has predominantly operated on the left during his fledgling career to date, although he is more than capable of playing on the opposite flank, either as a wing-back or a winger. His versatility will no doubt be a huge plus for Swansea following the departures of loan duo Cyrus Christie and Hannes Wolf.
Since replacing Steve Cooper as Swans boss last summer, Martin has regularly spoken about the need for players to possess the right kind of mentality and character in addition to being suited to his methods on the pitch. And the head coach believes his previous relationship with the new signing ensured he was only ever going to join Swansea this summer amid fierce interest from other Championship sides.
“Matty is a brilliant player and a brilliant young man,” said Martin. "He understands what we want and has been a part of that process and done incredibly well in it.
“He has not played as much as he wanted to last season, but once he knew we were interested he was only going to come here even though there was a lot of interest from the division we are in.
“I have no doubt we will get an even better version of him than we had at MK, and it is great we have got the deal done so early so he can have these five weeks to get used to the boys and the place. He is a really good signing for us and he will offer us versatility and something different to what we already have.”
Sorinola joins Harry Darling and Nathan Wood in joining Russell Martin's first team this summer. The Swans kick-start their 2022/23 Championship campaign at Rotherham United on Saturday, July 30.
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