Bartley woe may lead to a change in targets list

SWANSEA City’s morale-boosting 4-1 over MK Dons in the Carabao Cup was tainted by the seriouslooking injury suffered by Kyle Bartley, writes Mathew Davies

The centre-back, who impressed in a new-look back three formation against Manchester United last weekend, fell awkwardly following an aerial challenge with his opponent.

Bartley had produced another assured outing in defence before being stretchered off with eight minutes to go.

Head coach Paul Clement has admitted that it was too soon to say how severe the knee injury is, but expects the former Arsenal man to spend some time of the sidelines.

“He has come down awkwardly on his knee, and I thought it could be a bad one at the start,” said Clement.

“Maybe it is not quite as bad as we think but it looks as though he is going to be facing some time out, but we don’t know how long at this point.

“He will have a scan, he has had an initial ultrasound which showed some damage to the knee, but we are not exactly sure how bad it is.”

It is desperate luck for the 26-year-old, who has come back into the Swansea fray after a year on loan at Leeds United.

It had appeared that the Stockport-born man was headed for the exit door at the Liberty, but with Clement at the helm and the ink on a new four-deal still wet, he has a fresh start in SA1.

After promising signs, that comeback will have to be shelved for now.

Frustrations for the player, frustrations too for Clement.

The head coach has long spoken of having two men for each position, and with Jordi Amat now on loan at Real Betis and Bartley on the sidelines, it leaves Alfie Mawson, Federico Fernandez and Mike van der Hoorn as his options in the heart of defence.

Depending on the severity of Bartley’s injury, a new central defender would likely come on to the shopping list ahead of the August 31 deadline.

Another Swansea defender, Stephen Kingsley, is set to leave in the next 24 hours with a deal wrapped up to take him to Hull City.

In terms of incomings, PSV full-back Santiago Arias is on the radar, with Swansea holding genuine interest in the Colombian.