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Wales Online
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Wales Online
Swansea City's next transfer move is set to be their most important yet
Swansea City's next transfer move is set to be their most important yet The Swans will likely need to be in the market for another striker this summer Swansea are surely going to have to recruit another striker regardless of what happens with Zan Vipotnik (Image: Anna Gowthorpe/REX/Shutterstock ) Swansea City's early moves in the transfer window have clearly helped to elevate the mood around SA1 heading in the summer. The captures of Zeidane Inoussa and Bobby Wales, as well as the long-awaited arrival of Melker Widell, have left many wondering whether this new regime has learned the long overdue lessons that bubbled to the surface under their predecessors. The transfer window has traditionally been a frustrating time to be a Swans fan, but with three new faces now on board, there's a growing sense of optimism about what may lie ahead over the coming months. There is clearly still plenty of work ahead, of course, with several areas of the squad still in need of strengthening ahead of the new campaign. A centre-back, ideally two, is surely on the agenda even if Harry Darling decides to stay. A couple of full-backs to offer some meaningful competition for Josh Key and Josh Tymon is similarly important. Sign up to the Swansea City WhatsApp service to get breaking news and top stories sent to your phone However, there's one pressing priority that arguably hasn't been adequately addressed for the best part of two years. Many would make the point that Swansea haven't had an out-and-out goalscorer since Joel Piroe completed his move to Leeds United towards the end of the 2023 summer window, and their attempts to plug the gap left by the Dutchman ever since have so far fallen short. Article continues below Jerry Yates had his moments, but lacked the predatory instincts to take his tally deep into double figures in his first season. Meanwhile, Mykola Kuharevich, despite a brief clamour, clearly wasn't deemed ready for the Championship. Both spent last season out on loan at Derby County and Hibernian respectively, and it seems highly likely that the club will look to move both of them on this summer. If there was any unease about letting the duo go this time last year, much of it dissipated on the back of the capture of Zan Vipotnik, who was snapped up from crisis club Bordeaux. Indeed, Swans chiefs were privately confident the Slovenian was the man to take on the mantle of Piroe's long-term replacement. It's not quite worked out like that, of course. In his first season, the 23-year-old has managed just seven goals in 42 Championship appearances, and the fact there have already been whispers about his future at the club suggests the staunch level of support he's previously enjoyed from those behind the scenes, might now be starting to wane. In his defence, making the step up to the Championship was never going to be easy, and there is perhaps an argument for allowing him a little more time to adapt to the rigours of this level. But even if he does manage to find his feet, there's still an argument for bringing another body in. Liam Cullen, Swansea's top scorer last season, has proven to be very capable in the supporting striker role, having netted 11 goals, but has sometimes struggled when deployed as an out-and-out number nine and probably isn't suited to being the main man up front. Florian Bianchini, meanwhile, has offered little to suggest he's capable of finding the net on a regular basis, and his sporadic appearances under Alan Sheehan towards the end of the campaign suggest he's another player the Swans may look to move on over the coming weeks. There is an important underlying point to remember in all this, of course. Recruiting a number nine capable of scoring goals on a regular basis is traditionally the hardest proposition for any club at any level this time of year, and Swansea will likely be joined by most of the Championship in searching for the next Piroe this summer. Much has been made of the data modelling brought to the table by Richard Montague, who has previously stressed the importance of finding players who have previously been undervalued or under the radar of others. Sign up to our Swansea City newsletter here. Finding Swansea's next goalscoring hero could well push Montague's expertise to the limit, but it's worth remembering he does have previous success in this area. While at Notts County, he helped identify a young unknown striker from Gateshead named Macaulay Langstaff. It turned out pretty well, with the striker netting an astonishing 41 goals in 47 appearances to help County get promoted back to League Two, where he would go on to score another 28 goals. Article continues below Translating that success to the Championship, however, could well be more of a challenge.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
It's party time at Leeds and Burnley – but how long will the good times last?
Largie Ramazani gets down while going up. Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/Shutterstock GET ON UP Not content with prompting scenes of unbridled jubilation at Turf Moor by securing promotion to the Premier League after a one-year absence, Burnley's win over Sheffield United also sparked similar, if less densely populated scenes of elation across t'Pennines in yonder Leeds. Sporting shades and busting the kind of moves you don't often see in the formal surrounds of Elland Road's Lorimer Suite, Largie Ramazani was still dressed in full kit almost three hours after the 6-0 slaughter of Stoke. He was also the conspicuous life and soul of a party in which his teammates could be seen whooping, hollering and popping champagne corks safe in the knowledge that Burnley's blunting of the Blades confirmed they'd be returning to the top tier too. Inside one ground and outside another, the euphoria of players and fans of both teams knew no bounds. Advertisement And why would it? Having booked their places in next season's Premier League, both clubs can now look forward to being installed as white-hot favourites to go straight back down again, while angrily dismissing the naysayers and coming up with a plan to help ensure they are not quite as bad as West Ham and two other teams. While Football Daily is prepared to concede that pouring buckets of ice-cold water over the respective parades of Burnley and Leeds fans less than a day after their teams have won promotion may smack of bah humbug curmudgeonliness, now the empty fizz bottles have been consigned to the recycling bins and the celebratory smoke bombs have dissipated, plenty of shrewdies in Burnley and Leeds will be examining the quite frankly dismal top-flight records of their respective managers and thinking the same. Whether or not those in the Turf Moor and Elland Road boardrooms are among them and heartless enough to pull the trigger sooner rather than later remains to be seen. Following Sheffield United's poorly-timed late season wobble, Chris Wilder's hopes of returning to his lofty status – as a Premier League manager in front of whom post-match sandwich-eating by match officials is frowned upon – are now pinned on the playoffs, where Sunderland are also guaranteed a spot. With just a couple of games to go, the other two places are currently occupied by Liam Manning's Bristol City and Coventry, while Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough and Alex Neil's Millwall are also knocking on the door. At the bottom end of the table it's also still all to play for, with four of the bottom six winning on Monday, among them the long-term basement-dwellers Plymouth doing a dogged impersonation of a floater that refuses to flush. Meanwhile in what some would have you believe is The Best League In The World™, the excitable babble is all about who will come fifth. LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE Join Scott Murray at 8pm (BST) for red-hot updates on Manchester City 0-0 Aston Villa. QUOTE OF THE DAY I think I showed I could do it [on a cold, rainy night in Stoke] many times. It was very windy there and the fans were always behind us – it was a loud stadium' – Xherdan Shaqiri reckons he is living proof that tricky little flair players can deal with the often grim conditions that come with playing football on top of a hill in north Staffordshire. FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS The unbridled joy of promotions for Leeds, Burnley and probably Sheffield United before their inevitable relegations this time next year leads me to conclude we need a new competition. We could call it the Parachute League. Get relegated from the Premier League and you go into this with your shed-load of money along with the top three in the Championship. So Leeds, Burnley, Sheffield United, Southampton, Ipswich, Leicester could play each other for ever with perhaps Norwich and West Brom added for good measure. This would save the rest of us having to watch them getting hammered each week, and would make the Championship fairer for the rest who don't get money for failure. We need to add to this a new individual award. We could call it the Mourinho Cup. It would be awarded to the manager making the most excuses not involving himself in a season. Previous winners would have included Chris Wilder, Chris Wilder and, er, Chris Wilder. A special award for anyone who makes an original excuse but there wouldn't have been any winners of that over the last couple of seasons' – Jonathan Harris. Of course, the great thing about this 'Back where we belong' quote is that both Leeds and Burnley will be able to use it at this time next season too' – Noble Francis. In the comments section of Big Website the other day, someone (sorry, I can't find the line) suggested that both Manchester United and Spurs would find a way to get to the Bigger Vase final, and then both would find a way to lose. They might be right' – Colum Farrelly. Advertisement Send letters to Today's letter o' the day winner is … Jonathan Harris, who wins a copy of The Scouting Game, by Chris Robinson and courtesy of Pitch Publishing. Visit their bookshop here. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here. RECOMMENDED LOOKING It's David Squires on … Niclas Füllkrug's angry assessment of the West Ham Way. NEWS, BITS AND BOBS Norwich have bundled Johannes Hoff Thorup through the door marked Do One, with Jumpin' Jack Wilshere taking interim charge until the end of the season. And Tony Mowbray has been sacked by West Brom, too. Pep Guardiola has asked Manchester City fans to pump up the volume for their 'final' with fellow top-five contenders Aston Villa. 'We need them – we need them desperately, to support us, to make noise and be there all the time,' he roared. Advertisement Jamie Vardy, 78, has apologised to Leicester fans for the 'total embarrassment' of the club's relegation. 'Collectively, as players and as a club, we failed,' he wailed. 'There is simply no hiding, and I refuse to entertain any suggestion of doing so.' There was not much for Ange Postecoglou to be happy about during Spurs' 2-1 defeat by Nottingham Forest on Monday but he may have cracked a smile at hearing the news that eight minutes of the match was played without VAR when a fire alarm led to the evacuation of Stockley Park. And Union Saint-Gilloise boss Sebastien Pocognoli has apologised after one of his staff members was sent off against Genk for throwing an extra ball on to the pitch (as you might see in a Sunday league match) which interrupted a last-minute attack. 'This normally only happens in amateur football,' huffed Genk midfielder Jarne Steuckers. 'It's not because of that we lost, but this is very unprofessional. You can do a lot to get a win over the line, but not this.' Union later revealed reserve goalkeeper and former Genk player Vic Chambaere was the guilty party. 'Our kit manager was wrongfully sent off for this incident,' sniffed Union in a statement. 'This is an action that [we] strongly disapprove of and which does not reflect our values.' IN DA CLUB Football Daily is old enough to remember the days when a player buying into a club would lead us to believe that they'd invested in a trendy city centre nightspot called Flares, Chic, Buzz or some such. Heck, we're so ancient we can even remember a few who set up market stalls. But these days buying a club means just that. David Beckham with Inter Miami, Zlatan Ibrahimovic causing uproar by investing in Hammarby, Kylian Mbappé with SM Caen and, more recently, Luka Modric becoming a co-owner at Swansea. And now the former Celtic, Lyon and Fulham striker Moussa Dembélé has bought into, erm, FK Minija Kretinga. Advertisement A quick Google suggests they are a Lithuanian amateur club who sit ninth in the second-tier standings. Bizarre, yes. But it turns out Dembélé is a director for Triple M Sports Investments Limited, who apparently love a random club in their portfolio. 'They now know more about Kretinga than I do. This is a win not only for Kretinga but for all Lithuanian football. We will now move from away from an amateur club to a professional one,' cheered the club's chief suit, Vidas Burb. Dembélé is still only 28 and on the books at Saudi club Al-Ettifaq, which may explain why he has plenty spare change to invest in Eastern European football. MOVING THE GOALPOSTS Why the Northern Super League can change football in Canada for good. It's Sophie Downey with the latest edition of our sister email, Moving the Goalposts. STILL WANT MORE? Scott Parker has already proven himself a man of integrity and respect by keeping on his suit jacket throughout Burnley's promotion celebrations. But can he keep them up next season? Will Unwin considers. Advertisement Lyon and PSG have lessons to learn after careless performances in Europe, writes Luke Entwistle – such as the difference between 'less' and 'fewer' adds the Daily, whose Portuguese is of course as fluent as Paulo Fonseca's English. The NHS may be struggling, but you can always rely on Dr Tottenham. Ed Aarons reflects on another successful intervention. And who wasn't moved by Robbie Savage and Rio Ferdinand and Robbie Savage replacing commentary with self-referential partiality? Er, Jonathan Liew. MEMORY LANE West Ham players celebrate in the Stamford Bridge dressing room following their 2-1 win over Ipswich Town in the 1975 FA Cup semi-final replay – the first game, at Villa Park, had finished goalless. Pictured from left to right are Trevor Brooking, Pat Holland, Alan Taylor – who scored both their goals in the game, then both goals as they beat Fulham 2-0 in the final – Bobby Gould, an unidentified player with a towel, Graham Paddon (dressed in the understated fashion of the time) and John McDowell. THE ROYAL PARKER?
