It's not really an exaggeration to say that Swansea City's summer hinges on Joel Piroe.
The Dutchman enjoyed a hugely successful opening season in English football, netting 24 goals in all competitions - a tally that has understandably endeared himself to the Jack Army. His exploits have attracted plenty of deserved praise, and there's surely no question that boss Russell Martin would, in an ideal world, like to keep him on board.
However, there is a growing feeling that Swansea's resolve is likely to be tested this summer, and there's now perhaps an argument for selling the forward to bankroll strengthening efforts elsewhere.
Leicester City is the name that has been mentioned, with the Foxes believed to be keeping tabs on Piroe's progress, but it would surely be no surprise were others found to be interested.
But the persistence of links with Leicester is probably seen them afforded the status of favourites for the 22-year-old's signature, from the outside at least.
So, what's the latest? Could a move to the east Midlands really materialise? We spoke to Jordan Blackwell , Leicester City correspondent for LeicestershireLive to get the lowdown on where things stand.
What's the latest situation from a Leicester City point of view?
It's a really strange one in terms of how the links have persisted because a striker isn't really the priority. From what I understand they've got three priorities; a centre-back, a box-to-box midfielder and a right-sided winger. Then there's another two priorities, which are a physical midfielder and Ademola Lookman.
So at no point has a striker been mentioned. In fact it's a position where they're probably strongest. They have Vardy who has still got the best goals-per-game record in the division even though he's 35. There's Iheanacho and Daka, who've both done well when they've played.
But a right-sided winger is the main one at the moment. Since they sold Riyad Mahrez, they've struggled to fill his boots, really. Brennan Johnson is one they might consider, but that depends on whether Forest get promotion, of course. But there's nothing really to suggest they'd be looking at Piroe or indeed any other striker.
What I would say is James Maddison shows they do see value in the Championship. They signed him from Norwich for £20m when he'd only been there a couple of years. I think he'd only had one full season there. You look at him now, and you'd have to say it would be a big shock if he wasn't named in the England squad. So they've got a decent track record of spotting players in the EFL they think could step up.
Could that change?
I just don't see it ever getting to a point where they'd be looking at getting a striker, to be honest. They might perhaps be looking past the point of Vardy not being at the club, but you would say from his performances this season he can go on beyond next season if he still fancies it. He's finished seventh in the scoring charts this season despite not playing as much football this year.
I don't personally feel like they would be looking beyond Vardy just yet. In any case, they've kind of done it with Daka. Whenever I've spoken to folks about transfers, the names that have cropped up are names in the right wing position. The only time I've heard Piroe's name is when I've heard it elsewhere.
Say it does change, how much would Leicester be willing to spend?
How much business they can do is based on how much they can get for players like Tielemans. Söyüncü is another, and then it's about how much they can rake in from fringe players. The size of the squad will be reduced with no European football but it's about how much they can get in.
Lookman has been identified as someone they'd like to bring in to offer competition out wide. The deal with Leipzig is going to cost £14m. You'd think for a winger that isn't too bad. But they don't know if they'll be able to do it.
It depends how much money they make, how much they spend on the first three priorities I mentioned. So, with them having to base their transfer business on sales, you can understand why they're not going to throw £15m or whatever at a player in the Championship they hope might come good.
Besides, Rodgers has basically said that Leicester haven't been able to defend set-pieces. Even if they'd been able to defend set-pieces to a mediocre standard, they might have made Europe and would have probably finished above Manchester United. So they're solving that issue. They finished fifth-highest scorers, so goals are not really the problem.
As I said. I think it's very unlikely they'd move for someone like Piroe at this moment in time.
