SWANS SPLASH OUT ON BORJA
SWANSEA City are set to pay a club record £15m to sign Spanish hot-shot Borja Baston – and then scoop up £20m by giving the green-light to West Ham to land Andre Ayew.
Atletico Madrid striker Borja is due into South Wales over the next 24 hours to complete a medical and put pen to paper on a deal that will see him link up with Spanish World Cup winning frontman Fernando Llorente in Francesco Guidolin’s squad.
But WalesOnline understands Swansea will have to eclipse the £12.5m they paid out for Wilfried Bony in 2013 to seal the deal for the exciting young forward who has attracted interest from all over after his 18-goal breakthrough in La Liga last season. Guidolin confirmed the move was imminent when he spoke after his side’s 1-0 win over French outfit Stade Rennais, Jay Fulton’s goal giving Swansea a final pre-season victory before next week’s Premier League opener against Burnley.
The Italian also confirmed the story revealed by WalesOnline on Friday that Ayew has played his last game at the Liberty with the club prepared to accept the Hammers’ offer once they were confident of bringing in Borja having already snapped up Llorente from Sevilla.
Ayew is thought to have travelled to London with his father, African football legend Adebi Pele, to finalise the move.
But while there had been some indications that the Hammers would pay a basic fee of around £15m, it is now understood that Swansea will get at least £20m for the 26-year-old.
And there could be further addons involved in the transfer that could eventually put the deal in touching distance to the record £25m recouped when Bony moved to Manchester City 18 months ago.
Neither deals are likely to be completed until Monday, but it will give Swansea a boost going into the Burnley game after initial frustrations in the transfer window.
However, there is still uncertainty around the future of Ashley Williams as Swansea await Everton’s next move. Williams missed the win over the Ligue 1 side – which saw Llorente impress on his debut – as he was rested along with fellow Euro 2016 stars with Guidolin stressing he remains a Swansea City player.
THEY call Fernando Llorente the Lion King – and there’s every hope he could be the ‘mane’ man for Swansea City this year. It is always a danger to base predictions and presumptions of a Premier League campaign on a pre-season friendly, certainly ones against opposition as nonthreatening as France’s Stade Rennais.
And no-one should start believing that there is not much to work on for Francesco Guidolin going into the new campaign that starts at Burnley next weekend.
But given that much of Swansea’s frustrations have been based by their inability to truly find a No.9 to fill the considerable hole left by Wilfried Bony, it is difficult not to find optimism when a player looks like he at least knows what it would take to do so.
Llorente’s arrival has been somewhat overshadowed by the talk of Borja Baston (incoming), Andre Ayew (outgoing) and Ashley Williams (anyone’s guess as it stands).
But let no-one forget that this is a World Cup winner, a Serie A winner, a Europa League winner. He is a player who may have struggled for starts and goals over the past two years, but ultimately has the experience and intelligence of playing as a true frontman.
Again, drawing a blank – including hitting the post after being teed up perfectly for a debut score – against warm-up opposition is not the basis to say Llorente, at 31, is a guaranteed goal-getter and is the answer to all the prayers that have been muttered around Swansea this summer.
But there were signs to be optimistic about the Spain international’s presence in Francesco Guidolin’s squad.
Indeed, even in his first 20 minutes Llorente looked far more a Swansea City striker than the man he replaces in Bafetimbi Gomis.
The Panther never quite got what it took to be a success in this team, never quite grasped the vital role the lone forward plays in bringing others in to threat as well as troubling defenders themselves.
Llorente, albeit against limited opposition, showed the touches, use of his body and intelligence that offers hope of what he might be able to do.
They called him the Lion King at Athletic Bilbao, his hometown and first club who are known as the Lions. It was a sign of the reverence to him for his goals and performances before moving to Turin and, then, onto Sevilla.
His inability to nail a place in his return to Spain is a reminder that he is not in the peak of his career (he wouldn’t be at Swansea if he was) and the pace and intensity of the Premier League will be a real test of his credentials to still cut it.
It will take time too. He has not trained much this summer and he only lasted an hour here, his secondhalf performance not as stand-out as the first.
But, having only arrived in South Wales last night, there was a quick understanding of play in Swansea’s system with Wayne Routledge and a sharp-looking Nathan Dyer linking impressively from the off.
You immediately pictured Gylfi Sigurdsson – missing here along with other Euro 2016 stars Williams and Neil Taylor – enjoying the runs from deep as he once so successfully did with Bony.
And with Guidolin seemingly keen to restore width to Premier League proceedings, 6ft 5in Llorente’s threat in the air could really benefit from work from the flanks.
With Jefferson Montero and Modou Barrow offering frightening pace from the bench, there is real hope it all won’t look as flat-footed as last term.
Llorente missed his cue to make the headlines sweeter when Rout- ledge ignored the chance to shoot to tee him up, hitting the post from close range.
But there was also a sharp volley to catch the eye, plus a header to defend a corner; he was not afraid to looking for work.
Swansea will need to play to his strengths, but there is more of a fit than that of Gomis who always looked to run onto balls and never looked capable of setting up the platform for others.
There was also the refreshing change of not troubling the linesman’s offside flag too.
In the end, it was Jay Fulton who eventually grabbed the goal in the walk through that was a little concerning in its ease. The Scot, just seconds into the game from the bench, glanced a Modou Barrow corner with some style. Llorente would have approved.
Barrow, rapid again, also hit the woodwork and there were other chances as the changes came.
The win was not in doubt, just as it was not truly important, but seeing Swansea find a No.9 that is at least aware of what is needed to make this system work and this side a success was heartening.