Swansea City have failed to sustain the form they finished the last season with and are now languishing just outside the danger zone. If things do not improve really soon, it could prove to be a long and hard season for them. Francesco Guidolin, since his appointment in the mid-season last time around, had an uphill task in his hands to bring the Welsh side out of the danger zone. They not only managed to secure their Premier League status but ended the season quite well by finishing 12th in the Premier League.
Things are not going well for the Swans this season as they have managed to win just one of their six Premier League fixtures so far. In the process, they have just managed to score five goals with summer signing Fernando Llorente struggling to make an impact in the Premier League. Cub record signing Borja is just back from injury and we are yet to see how he fares in the most competitive football league in the world.
Danish newspaper BT reports that the Swans have been scouting FC Copenhagen striker Federico Santander for quite some time now and their interest could materialise in an official bid as early as January. However, fellow relegation battlers Sunderland are also in the picture which means that signing him won’t be a cakewalk for the Swans.
Santander made his name while playing for Guarani in his native Paraguay scoring 34 goals in his two spells with the club. The Paraguay international had spells with Toulouse, Racing Club and Tigre before earning a move from Guarani to Copenhagen last year and since then, he had been a great success for the Danish giants.
The Paraguay forward deserves the interest he is attracting right now having managed to score 23 goals while setting up 7 goals from 53 games for Copenhagen. Just 25 years of age, the forward has his best days ahead of him and can be moulded to a deadly goalscorer under the stewardship of the experienced Francesco Guidolin.
With his frame of 6 ft 2 in, Santander excels in the air and possess a great strength on the ball. The Paraguayan’s hold up play is solid and he can bring his teammates into the game with his good eye for a pass. In the Champions League game against Porto, the Paraguayan won as many as 4 headers during the game which is impressive. He also recorded a passing success of 78.6% against Porto which proves that he is a quality target man.
Guidolin, from his time in Italy, has a preference for using a 3-5-2 formation and he is unable to do that now with the lack of quality reinforcements at his disposal. Swansea need a third centre-forward desperately who can deputise for the likes of Baston and Llorente and Santander is well capable of doing that. The hardworking Paraguayan forward seems like a player who can prove to be the missing piece in the jigsaw at Swansea.
Stats via Whoscored
