Nothing much has gone right for Swansea City so far this season. The momentary transfer window euphoria when they broke their transfer record twice has understandably proved to be extremely short-lived. The fact that they could hold onto Gylfi Sigurdsson was also seen as an important step towards this season’s success.
But the same cannot be said about their failure to keep hold of their talismanic captain Ashley Williams. And while the lure of Everton was understandable from the player’s point of view, the club’s reluctance to go for a better replacement for him was one of the most befuddling things of the summer transfer window.
And expectedly, they have struggled. The defence has struggled and the team is shorn of any character or leadership. The Swans invested heavily in attack in trying to replace the likes of Gomis and Andre Ayew. But on current evidence, it doesn’t seem to have been the smartest piece of business.
Two Spaniards thrust into the rigours of the Premier League, in a side having serious issues even before the season started. While Fernando Llorente has settled down somewhat in the last few weeks, the same can’t be said about record signing Borja Baston.
Although Llorente has moved up to 5 goals, which is huge in regard to what their other players have achieved, the following statistic gets a bittersweet reaction. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Barrow have been their two players who have notched up any meaningful assists.
The Icelandic international has 5 goals and 5 assists while Barrow has 3 assists. The lack of creativity from any other part of the field is indeed worrying. But they can take solace from the fact that they have players, even if they are minuscule in number to provide chances for their teammates and the problem lies with the strikers who have failed to integrate into the play to a satisfactory extent.
Hence, although the reports linking Swansea City to Aleksander Mitrovic might seem to be frivolous, there might be some sort of logic behind the rumours.
Swansea came close to signing the hot-headed striker in July 2015 before he moved to the Magpies. But having mustered only three goals in 12 games for the Championship leaders this season, Mitrovic has fallen down the pecking order.
With just 11 goals since Bob Bradley took over, there is an urgent need for a quick fix. And the Serbian can rally a team which, to be honest, seems lost. He has the physique, he can bully defenders and will have a point to prove which always augurs well for a team.
Swansea City have very little time to act and with the January transfer window providing an opportunity to be proactive in the market, they should take it.
