Birch: I’m delighted with our loanees

SWANSEA City chairman Trevor Birch has expressed his delight with the three loan signings the club have made this month.

The Swans have turned heads by sealing the temporary transfers of Rhian Brewster, Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher.

Liverpool youngster Brewster was the first to join, before being followed by the Chelsea duo shortly after.

The influence of head coach Steve Cooper has been cited as a major factor in the deals; Cooper worked with all three during his time in the England set-up, leading them to Under-17 World Cup glory.

Writing in his Wigan programme notes on the weekend, Birch emphasised Cooper’s pull. He said: “I’m delighted with the arrivals of Rhian Brewster, Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher on loan from Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.

“They are three quality young players who were keen to join us after establishing an excellent working relationship with Steve from the England Under-17 setup.

“It was also a view shared by both their Premier League clubs, who felt Swansea was the right club for them despite a lot of interest elsewhere, so we are extremely grateful to both Liverpool and Chelsea for their vote of confidence.

“On the departure front, goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt has left us to pursue a new challenge in Turkey. It goes without saying that we would all like to thank Kris for his services over the last four and a half years.”

Birch also used his column to praise supporters for their conduct at last weekend’s South Wales derby.

The game against Cardiff City went off without a hitch, something which pleased the Swans chief immensely.

“I have to say how proud I felt of our supporters at Cardiff,” he added.

“Not just the vocal support on the day as we out-sung the home side, but the conduct of everyone throughout the day.

“The organisation that goes into such a game is huge, especially when you have to bus nearly 2,000 people from Swansea to Cardiff on organised coaches.

“The operational staff at the club worked extremely hard for weeks to make sure everything went as smoothly as possible which, I’m pleased to say, it did.

“And the reports I have received from our operational team, the police and Cardiff City have been full of praise for our fans. So, thank you all very much.”