Swansea City hasn’t had a more optimistic atmosphere in a long time.
Following Tuesday’s victory over Plymouth Argyle, they are now four games unbeaten and sit in ninth place, with four points separating them from the play-offs ahead of the tough festive calendar.
Luke Williams will be looking to gain momentum heading into the second half of the season, but his focus may shift to the next January transfer market.
Despite Swansea’s obvious development on the pitch, there’s certainly some room for improvement in this team, and with a new ownership group behind them, the forthcoming window is a fantastic opportunity for Andy Coleman and Co to show supporters that this new era truly will be different.
Nonetheless, Coleman has already ruled out splurging the cash when the window reopens, despite the club receiving a £20 million influx.
“What we’re going to say about January is, we’re always going to go into every window, as I’ve always said, looking to come out stronger than when we went in,” Coleman told me recently.
“But January is a challenging market. That is something we all know. We’re not going to chase deals for the sake of chasing them.
“The new investment is coming in to stabilise the economic model of the club first, so that we can take the necessary steps along this road together to improve the club every single window we enter.”
It means that, while permanent moves are still possible, the club is expected to rely more on the loan market than in the summer, with Nelson Abbey and Myles Peart-Harris the only loan signings from the last window.
A decision on whether to keep Abbey will most certainly be considered, since the centre-back has yet to make a single league appearance since joining from Olympiakos, who may conclude that this loan spell isn’t working out.
However, this would leave the alternatives at centre-back very limited heading into the second half of the season. Indeed, even with Abbey still on board, there’s a compelling case for adding another central defender.
Harry Darling and Ben Cabango are both out of contract at the end of the season, and signing them to new contracts would definitely provide another good injection of hope going into the new year.
Departures may yet occur, with numerous players expected to become available if the right offer comes in. That category includes Nathan Tjoe-a-on, who was on the radar of Oxford United and others in the summer, as well as Kristian Pedersen, who is out of contract at the end of the season.
Sales of marginal players would undoubtedly be beneficial, especially if the club wishes to bolster its forward options.
Noel Milleskog had previously been on Swansea’s radar, but with his contract continuing until 2028, the onus will be on the club to put together an acceptable financial deal if they want to reconsider a potential move in the winter.
In an ideal scenario, Swansea would sign both a playmaker, possibly a winger, and a new striker to replace current number nine Zan Vipotnik.
January is a difficult market in which to locate good forward alternatives at the best of times, but after utilising a global scouting network throughout the summer, there may be an untapped gem out there for the club to polish.
What cannot be tolerated is for a well-known figure to go the other way.
Goncalo Franco, Lawrence Vigouroux, and Josh Key have all emerged as potential assets this season, and losing any of them would be a significant setback for the rest of the season.
The financial realities may yet trump the footballing side of things, but if Swansea can find a way to keep their best players while also strengthening the squad with some quality in specific areas, this might be a team to keep an eye on in the coming months.
