Swansea City might lose their talismanic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson this summer and the prospect of losing him has already been in the mind of Paul Clement who has been searching a suitable successor of the Icelandic playmaker should he leave the Liberty Stadium.
Clement has identified Huddersfield City’s Philip Billing as the potential replacement of Sigurdsson. Billing has a £10m price tag on him and Clement is very eager to pay that much to bring the player all the way to Wales.
Having parted ways with Jack Cork already who left the club to join another Premier League side, Burnley, Clement wants to re-energise his midfield with some new signings. The gaffer has already captured Roque Mesa from Las Palmas but is not entirely convinced with the current situation.
Billing’s broke onto the scene in the 2015/16 season and was one of the vital cogs last term as Huddersfield won the promotional battle by taming Reading in the Championship playoff final.
Billing’s performance in the 5-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester City in the FA Cup fifth round raised a number of eyebrows after his scintillating performances for the Terriers. English legend Alan Shearer termed his performance as ‘Brilliant’ as the player was quite sharp with his crisp passing and touches although it was a pretty one sided performance from the Sky Blues.
The Dutch youngster made 13 starts in the last season as injury curtailed most of his season. He signed a new contract last season and is one of the emerging youngsters currently at the club.
David Wagner would try his best to keep the youngster at the club as they are set to test their resolve in the Premier League after a long gap. Wagner wants to use the midfielder quite frequently in the next season so that they could have the chance to get a good price for him if his performance graph continues to go upwards.
The future of Sigurdsson is still up in the air and Clement wants to have a clearer picture before the season starts. There have been some offers but none of them has been able to match Swansea’s demands.
If he does depart, Swansea is set to gain from the windfall and they could use this money to fund Billing’s move. Standing at six feet five, the player has a pronounced aerial presence and he could be the most surprising prospect at the club if he does prefer to leave the Terriers.
