Swansea City have suffered a major setback in pursuit of FK Krasnodar forward Fyodor Smolov. According to a recent report from the Daily Mail, the Swans have made an attempt to sign the Russian skipper from FK Krasnodar but the player has refused to make a switch to the Liberty Stadium. The Russian forward was the subject of a £11m offer from West Ham last month but the Hammers boss David Moyes was reluctant to go ahead with the deal in this transfer window.
It is believed that the Welsh club made their own bid of around £15m recently but the 27-year-old captain of Russia was hesitant to make a switch to play for the relegation strugglers. The ex-Dinamo Moscow player has found the back of the net 59 times in 90 matches for Krasnodar and has scored 11 goals in 28 international matches for the Russian national side, which includes a memorable brace in a friendly match against Spain in November last year.
Smolov is a fluent English speaker and was eager to make a switch to London but is now believed to be gathering the interest of Zenit Saint Petersburg.
It is also being reported that the Welsh club are continuing to have talks with West Ham over the possibility of signing Andre Ayew though the Hammers boss Moyes wants to ensure that he has enough cover before letting Ayew leave in this transfer period.
Swansea City are pulling off miracle comebacks in the Premier League under new manager Carlos Carvalhal and are currently out of the relegation zone after they secured a 3-1 home victory over Arsenal last night. They currently find themselves in 17th place but are still in danger of getting relegated at the end of the season. However, the Welsh club sits just above the relegation zone with goal difference separating them from 18th placed Stoke City. The addition of a forward of the calibre of Smolov could definitely hand Carvalhal’s attacking options a major boost going into the second half of their campaign.
One of the major reasons why the Swans have struggled this season has been their lack of firepower up top. They have only managed to score 18 goals in 25 league matches which is simply not good enough to keep them in the top tier of English football.
It remains to be seen whether Swansea City goes back with an improved offer for Smolov before the end of the day in their quest to avoid relegation to the Championship this term.
