TRANSFER BUSINESS HAS GIVEN US DEPTH, SAYS BOSS
STEVE Cooper says Swansea City’s squad has more experience and depth as a result of their business in the transfer window. Swansea signed a total of 10 players during the course of the most recent market, with four coming in on deadline day.
Of those signings, five arrived on permanent deals, with Jamal Lowe, Ryan Manning, Joel Latibeaudiere and Ryan Bennett all signing threeyear deals with Swansea.
Korey Smith was handed a twoyear contract.
And Cooper believes there is far more balance to his squad following the deals in the transfer window.
“A couple of permanents, which I felt was important because we’re not going to be panicking in every transfer window, so I think that was important,” he said.
“We’ve got more starters in the squad now and, maybe before the international break, there wasn’t loads of experience that wasn’t on the pitch.
“Now I think we’ve got more players that have started Championship and Premier League games in the past.
“That is one thing we’re pleased about as well as having a bit more balance in the squad as well in terms of positional mix.”
Kasey Palmer was the only one of Swansea’s deadline-day signings to feature in the 2-1 loss to Huddersfield Town at the Liberty Stadium.
The Bristol City loanee came on as a late substitute as Cooper’s men tasted defeat in the league for the first time this season.
The Robins have the option to recall Palmer in January should they wish, while Swansea do not have the option to make the loan move permanent next summer.
It comes after Swansea lost Morgan Gibbs-white – who was on crutches while watching the loss to the Terriers from the sidelines – to a foot injury, with the Wolves loanee set to be out of action for around three months.
But Cooper hopes Palmer can help rebuild his career in South Wales having had a tough debut campaign at Ashton Gate last time out.
“We’ve brought a good player in with Kasey. We want to give him the opportunity to resurrect his career a little bit,” said the Swansea head coach.
“He’s a player that I know well and he has a lot of potential.
“Hopefully we can give him a platform to help us.”
The trio of Latibeaudiere,manning and Bennett – who all watched the clash with Huddersfield from the stands – are eligible to make their Swansea debuts in the clash with Coventry City tomorrow night.
Should he feature, Bennett is expected to be the man tasked with operating in the middle of Swansea’s back three, with Ben Cabango and
Marc Guehi being the most likely men to be deployed alongside the 30-year-old.
It’s understood Bennett turned down interest from the likes of Watford and Middlesbrough to secure a deadline-day move to the Liberty Stadium.
And Cooper admits Bennett’s versatility and experience will be a major plus for the Swans.
“He’s a good player, he’s highly experienced,” said Cooper.
“He’s got a lot of appearances and experiences, promotion, playing in the Premier League, playing in a back four, playing in a back three.
“His character is one of leadership and he’s a good player. So we’re really pleased to have him here.
“He had a lot of offers to go to the Championship, and he was keen to come here once he knew that the opportunity was there for him.
“He made it happen to be fair to him, so we’re looking forward to getting to work with him.”