The inevitable happened eventually. Following a brilliant few weeks at the end of last season in Swansea colours that saved them the relegation at the end, the Welsh side had to part ways with their star duo of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente.
Despite Paul Clement maintaining his stance throughout the summer that the club would keep them ahead of a very important season, the Swans are now preparing for life after them and they are doing that brilliantly.
Swansea have had some surprising arrivals this summer on the other end and following a decent opening in the first three weeks in the Premier League, they will only aim to be better now. Apart from the heavy loss against Manchester United, which saw them concede four goals, Clement’s side has been quite coherent.
Here is how they would line up with the new arrivals –
Defence
In Lukasz Fabianski, Swansea have a reliable player who can really keep the composure in pressure situations if his back line remains intact. It is one of the main reasons that Clement has kept his confidence in the Polish international despite conceding 70 goals last season.
With the three-man defence going quite well for them against Crystal Palace, Clement is expected to stick with it now. The three centre halves- Alfie Mawson, Federico Fernandez and Mike van der Hoorn- will remain the same. Swansea have done brilliantly to hold on to young Mawson this summer, who was in huge demand following a breakthrough season last term.
Midfield
While Swansea’s five-man midfield looked quite persistent and tireless in their approach against Palace, Clement hardly had the options on the bench to replace them potentially as and when needed. The trio of Leroy Fer, Sam Clucas and Tom Carroll were brilliant for the Swans last game, but apart from new arrival Roque Mesa, Clement hardly had any good option.
They have now got a major upgrade in their latest loan arrival Renato Sanches. The Portuguese wonder kid comes to the Premier League to get back his magic touch and Clement will now have too many good options to choose from. We expect Sanches to replace Carroll in the midfield and Mesa to replace Clucas, eventually. The wing backs will remain the same.
Attack
Getting Tammy Abraham from Chelsea has already started clicking for Swansea and Jordan Ayew has shown a promising start this time following a fruitless season last term. Despite getting back Wilfried Bony, the Manchester City reject isn’t expected to start for now.
