Swansea City are in a difficult spot currently with the head coach, Paul Clement sacked this week after club owners Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien ran out of patience. Their prized centre-back, Alfie Mawson has been linked to West Ham United, who are heavily interested in the Englishman.
Mawson arrived at the Welsh club in the summer of 2016 after the loss of Ashley Williams to Everton. As a young centre-back, he displayed great composure and leadership qualities for the Swans and was crucial in the clubs 12th place finish last season.
He, however, has been struggling to find consistency on the pitch in the current campaign often failing to replicate his own standards. Still seen as top English talent, David Moyes is greatly invested in obtaining his services to rebuff the defensive backline for the Hammers.
With Paul Clement gone, interim manager Leon Britton is currently manning the senior team. The club already saw the exit of two of their key players in the summer, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente. With Mawson possibly gone, the Swans owners and the yet-to-be-appointed manager will have their work cut out for them to find replacements in order to save themselves from relegation. The can consider the following three players as possible replacements for Mawson.
Tobias Figueiredo (Sporting CP):
The 23-year-old has appeared in only 6 games for Sporting CP this season and has already been targeted by Leeds United. Valued at around £3.5m, Figueiredo is not in the plans of the club manager, Jorge Jesus and will most likely be sold in the January transfer window. The Portuguese defender has great aerial abilities and can look to make his mark in top-flight English football with regular minutes for the Swans.
Lamine Kone (Sunderland):
The Ivory Coast international arrived at Sunderland in January of 2016 under then-manager, Sam Allardyce for £5m. But he has failed to make his mark for the Black Cats often speculated to make an exit. The current Sunderland squad under Chris Coleman is struggling at the bottom end of the EFL Championship. With John O’shea, Tyias Browning and Marc Wilson as the primary choices in the centre-back role, it will be hard for Kone to return to the lineup. However, he can make a return from injury in January and start for a side in the Premier League, already a target of Everton and Crystal Palace.
Frank Fabra (Corinthians):
The 26-year-old is also a target of Palace and Everton having already attracted a bid of £15m from the Brazilian side, Corinthians. Fabra currently plays for Argentinian side, Boca Juniors and is a key figure for the side with 1 goal in 11 appearances. Swansea can rival the interested the sides with a better bid and bring to the Premier League on a lucrative deal.
