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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Ian Mitchelmore

The Swansea City goal aces who can strike fear in Championship this season and the true scale of what they've already achieved

With little more than a week to go until Swansea City's Championship opener at Rotherham United, fans have heavily debated the starting line-up Russell Martin will select.

The right wing-back position is a real concern among most Jacks, although, the remainder of the 11 appears to pick itself. And two names who all supporters will have on their team sheets for the clash with the Millers are Michael Obafemi and Joel Piroe.

The pair netted 36 goals between them last season which is a remarkable feat given that Obafemi bagged just once before February.

READ MORE: The young Swansea City stars to benefit most in pre-season as duo impress coaches

Martin's tactical tweak in dropping Piroe to a deeper position played a pivotal role in Obafemi's improvement. It gave the former Southampton man the chance to lead the line on a regular basis which meant he could use his pace in behind opposition defences.

It also ensured the Republic of Ireland international had greater quality behind him, with Piroe proving he could thrive in a position where he got far more touches on the ball next to the likes of Jamie Paterson, Cameron Congreve and Olivier Ntcham.

Unfortunately, the elephant in the room has to be addressed. In football, every player has a price, particularly in the Championship.

There can be no guarantee that Obafemi and Piroe will still each be Swansea players following the 11pm transfer deadline on September 1, although the club are in a far stronger position to fend off any potential interest in their star men following the sale of Flynn Downes to West Ham United earlier this month.

But, should they remain in south Wales, the rest of the Championship have plenty of reason to be concerned given the form of Swansea's two best goal scorers last season. The squad has a better balance to it as a result of the dealings in the market, with Harry Darling, Nathan Wood, Matty Sorinola and Joe Allen already brought in.

Olivier Ntcham is far better prepared to hit the ground running having had a season to settle at Swansea following his difficult stint with Celtic and Marseille. The same applies to Jamie Paterson who was injured last summer and also became distracted by his contract situation midway through the campaign.

Add in the fact that young guns such as Congreve and Ollie Cooper have been given first team action and the attack is looking far better now than it did a year ago when head coach Martin gave chances to the likes of Morgan Whittaker, Liam Cullen and Jamal Lowe as he assessed his options following his late arrival from MK Dons.

Each new or polished off cog in the machine should play a part in improving the overall product that fans get to see this season, and in Obafemi and Piroe, Swansea have a lethal duo that can run riot.

Piroe is the 9/1 second favourite with Sky Bet to be the top scorer in the second tier during the 2022/23 campaign while Obafemi is the 16/1 joint-fifth favourite to finish on top of the scoring charts. The expectation on their shoulders is understandable, particularly given that they outscored Jamal Lowe and Andre Ayew who bagged 31 times between them during the 2020/21 season when Steve Cooper's side reached the play-off final.

In fact, the last time Swansea's two top scorers in a season netted more than Obafemi and Piroe managed together last term came when Scott Sinclair (27) and Darren Pratley (12) got 39 between them as Brendan Rodgers' side gained promotion in the 2010/11 campaign.

The pre-season form of the pair has been encouraging, but after what was undoubtedly a major transitional season, they have every reason to feel even more confident of doing the business in Martin's second campaign at the club.

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