Once again, Swansea City are staring down the barrel of a momentous summer on and off the pitch.
The latest accounts, filed with Companies House and revealed last week, showed the importance of player sales to the club’s ongoing process. Head coach Russell Martin will be looking forward to a full pre-season, something his late appointment last term robbed him of.
There is general satisfaction and an acceptance on all sides that next season Swansea will be a better outfit. Players will have had more time to get used to the former MK Dons man’s methods, a full summer will be used for recruitment and matters at the club will be more aligned.
The wheels are certainly already in motion in terms of outgoings. Martin confirmed that Ben Hamer and Korey Smith will be heading out the door this summer, while Yan Dhanda, Ryan Bennett and Jay Fulton are likely to follow suit. Yesterday came news that Swansea will let the majority of players who were out on loan during the 2021/22 campaign leave on permanent deals. You can read more about that here.
READ MORE: Martin's personal Instagram message to Wolf revealed
Those names include Liam Cullen, Morgan Whittaker, Jordon Garrick, Liam Walsh and Steven Benda. All of the aforementioned players remain under contract with the Swans, meaning they will either need to be sold or loaned out once again if they are to play regularly next term. Ollie Cooper is expected to be the only loan player who bucks that trend and given a chance to impress over the course of pre-season.
“Ollie’s a real possibility,” said Martin. “The rest we’ll have to see. We’ll sit down with them when they’re done. We’ve stayed in touch with them. We can discuss it. I expect there’ll be a few who want to kick-start their careers and play elsewhere because they don’t fit the long-term vision of the team or have a position that is ideally suited to theirs.
“We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Dan Williams is currently recovering from injury while Lewis Webb will spend the remainder of the year with Shelbourne.
There are also increasingly evident question marks over the future of Joel Piroe this window, with Martin admitting his head has been turned by recent speculation around him. Leicester City are said to be keen.
“He’s a young man, there’s a lot of speculation and noise and I don’t think he could perform at his best today because of it,” said Martin. “That was it really. He deserved an ovation from the supporters for what he’s given us this season.
“We have a valuation of him, and every player. If someone meets it, then so be it, we’ll have to be ready. We’ll be absolutely disappointed to lose such a good player, but I think he appreciates that this club’s been really good for him this season, he’s been really good for us and it’s just been a good fit. I think he’s grateful that we’ve played a certain way that highlights and complements his strengths.”
Monday came reports that Portsmouth are one of several teams tracking Kyle Joseph, while Flynn Downes will likely attract interest after his stellar displays this season. Leeds United are admirers of the former Ipswich Town man. On the face of it, that is a significant number of players who could possibly leave in one window, coupled with serious interest in their high-profile star men.
In terms of incomings, the above outgoings - or possible outgoings in some cases - are necessary to allow a loosening of the purse strings. As ever, Swansea must cut their cloth accordingly with no parachute payments to soften the hardship of remaining outside the Premier League. We know that the club are keen on move for former Swansea midfielder Joe Allen, who is heading out of contract with Stoke City. You can read more about that here.
MK Dons' defeat in the League One play-off semi-final means Harry Darling - a firm Martin favourite - could be pursued with more vigour. Their head coach, Liam Manning, is expecting clubs to now circle for his top talents. “You'll never stop the speculation and it should be a huge compliment for the club, for Liam Sweeting who does the recruitment, and for the staff who put the work into the players," Manning told the MK Citizen.
“We're in League One, there will always be teams above us looking, so we have to be prepared. There was a lot of panic in January when we lost a lot of players, but we showed we're proactive and we're working hard behind the scenes for things that can happen.”
Meanwhile, Hannes Wolf and Cyrus Christie remain on Martin's wanted list after their successful loans in south Wales. There remains hurdles to overcome with both deals, though, and you can read more about that here.
A goalkeeper also remains a priority, as will a striker, should Piroe leave SA1, as expected.
