The Premier League has been busy for almost two months now with clubs around the league trying hard to strengthen their squads ahead of the new campaign. Welsh outfit Swansea City have managed to get their hands on some top class players this summer and though they have had to miss out on a couple of transfer targets, Francesco Guidolin, the manager, will be relatively happy with the progress his team made in the off-season. However, with the transfer window now shut, the club cannot make any more changes to the squad and will fight for glory this season with only the players in hand. So how good a transfer window did the Swans have this summer? Here is the transfer window review for the Welsh outfit.
Completed transfers
Ins
Leroy Fer – QPR, £4.75m
Mike van der Hoorn – Ajax, undisclosed
Mark Birighitti – Newcastle Jets, free
Fernando Llorente – Sevilla, undisclosed
Tyler Reid – Manchester United, undisclosed
George Byers – Watford, free
Borja Gonzalez – Atletico Madrid, £15.5m
Alfie Mawson – Barnsley, £5m
Outs
Andre Ayew – West Ham, £20.5m
Ashley Williams – Everton, £12m
Eder – Lille, £3.4m
Alberto Paloschi – Atalanta, £6m
Marvin Emnes – Blackburn, loan
Bafetimbi Gomis – Marseille, loan
Kenji Gorre – Northampton, loan
Kyle Bartley – Leeds, loan
Raheem Hanley – Northampton, free
Liam Shephard – Yeovil, loan
Oliver Davies – Kilmarnock, loan
Matt Grimes – Leeds, loan
Josh Sheehan – Newport, loan
Kyle Copp – Yeovil, free
Connor Roberts – Bristol Rovers, loan
Adam King – Southend, loan
Franck Tabanou – Granada, loan
What did they get
Like many Premier League teams Guidolin’s Welsh outfit have managed to send a lot of young players on loan away from the club to reduce the wage burden. The biggest losses of the season was that of Andre Ayew who decided to join the Hammers and Eder who moved to French outfit Lille this summer. They also lost Ashley Williams to Everton in the off season and sent Bafetimbi Gomis to Marseille on loan. However, they have made some decent additions to their squad in Borja Baston, Fernando Llorente and Leroy Fer on the cheap considering the inflation in the current transfer market.
The manager has also signed a couple of young exciting talents from within England’s domestic football scene in Mark Birighetti and Alfie Mawson as he added enough back up options to his first team players ahead of the new season. The attack is a fresh one and with the experience, they could get the Welsh side into the top half of the table at the end of the season
What did they miss
The manager has missed out on most of his top transfer targets having failed to sign two former players who were available for sale this summer. The likes of Joe Allen and Wilfried Bony were both snapped up by Stoke and though the Swans were interested in their signing, they did not make enough of an effort to get them. They also were not able to purchase an able replacement for outgoing defender and club captain Ashley Williams and Guidolin will know that if his team is a bit weak at the back come the crunch time a few months later, he has only himself to blame. However, they do look a better side from the last season and will hope to finish near the top half of the table come the end of the season.
Verdict
With all the money that was spend (more than a billion) in the Premier League, Swansea at times showed reluctance to splash the cash on a couple of their top transfer targets. They needed their club record signing in Borja Baston after losing a couple of their strikers while Guidolin will hope that Llorente will also add some firepower to the attack. Though not replacing Ashley Williams can haunt them, the manager will be fairly certain that the squad at his disposal now can compete with the best in the business and will hope that his team find a place in the top half of the table. It was far from a perfect window for Swansea but they look a better and more balanced outfit from the previous season.
Rating: 6.5/10
