Swansea City entered January in the worst way possible. With the club dwelling in the relegation zone and the squad reeling with dismal displays, the new manager had little time to identify the problems and bring in new faces. To worsen that, Chelsea had locked their interest on striker Fernando Llorente and Clement had a real task at hand either persuading him to stay or finding a potent replacement if he left.
Although it took some time for things to fall in place, recent results indicate that Swansea are now on track towards improvement. With most of the transfers now settled, the Swans have moved out of the relegation zone Clement’s setup looks effective.
TRANSFERS
INS
- Luciano Narsingh, PSV Eindhoven (£4m)
- Martin Olsson – Norwich (£4.5m)
- Tom Carroll – Tottenham (£4.5m)
- Jordan Ayew – Aston Villa (undisclosed)
OUTS
- Marvin Emnes – Blackburn (loan)
- Mo Barrow – Leeds (loan)
- Tom Holland – AFC Fylde (loan)
- Neil Taylor – Aston Villa (undisclosed)
- Owain Jones – Yeovil (loan)
- Ryan Hedges – Barnsley (undisclosed)
Source: Sky Source
Luciano Narsingh was the first buy for Clement after taking charge and the signing could be said to be a utility based. With players like Gylfi Sigurdsson and Wayne Routledge, who can play on the flanks as well from the middle, Narsingh has provided Clement with the luxury of an option. His versatility in the attacking third blended with exquisite passing and the quick burst of pace can catch opponents off guard and Swansea have got themselves a match winner for £4m.
Left-back has been a huge crisis for Swansea throughout the first half of the season and Clement wanted to get a player in that position. Martin Olsson has been surprisingly good for the Swans so far as the 28-year-old has brought a mix of good attacking play on the left and solid defending to add to that.
In Leroy Fer and Ki, Clement has a decent set of central midfielders, who do their offensive and defensive duties well and the signing of Tom Carroll was thought as largely a backup. However, with Carroll now playing as a wide player, as we saw in their win against Southampton, Clement has displayed his rich manoeuvring skills.
Verdict: 7
Clement has brought in a winger, a forward, a full-back and a central midfielder. The shopping looks quite balanced for a manager who hardly got any time study the team but has done well with the set of players provided to him by the scouting staff. With back-to-back wins over Liverpool and Southampton, Clement looks to have found the right balance from the players.
