How Swans loan stars are shaping up for their temporary employers
KRISTOFFER Peterson was the third player to leave Swansea City this month. Sam Surridge had already been recalled by parent club Bournemouth following his loan spell in South Wales, while Kristoffer Nordfeldt sealed a permanent switch to Turkish side Genclerbirligi.
And Peterson’s temporary exit means the Swans currently have six players out on loan.
Here’s the latest progress report on each one of them, as well as a closer look at what the future holds...
Kristoffer Peterson (Utrecht)
AT the time of writing, Steve Cooper has made a total of nine signings since becoming head coach at Swansea.
And while there was a loan fee required to bring Rhian Brewster to the Liberty Stadium, Peterson is still the only man the Swans have forked out a transfer fee to sign.
The Swedish winger struggled to make an impact at SA1 early on and after failing to force his way into the first team on a regular basis, he made the move back to Holland having scored just one goal in his 11 appearances for Swansea.
However, it took the 25-year-old just 14 minutes to get his account up and running for Utrecht, with Peterson scoring the opener in his side’s 4-0 win over ADO Den Haag on his league debut.
He was withdrawn in the 68th minute of the game and will no doubt feature against VVV-Venlo this weekend having also played against FC Eindhoven in the KNVB Cup.
Peterson still has just under two-and-a-half years left to run on his contract at Swansea, although Utrecht have the option to buy the wideman once his loan deal comes to an end.
Cooper has not closed the door on
Peterson, stating that he could return in the summer, although unless the picture changes significantly in the near future, that appears unlikely.
Cian Harries (Fortuna Sittard)
THE Welsh centre-back made the bold move to join Dutch outfit Fortuna Sittard last summer.
Despite the club’s precarious league position in the Eredivisie, Harries made a decent start to life in his new surroundings.
The defender made eight appearances for the club in a two-month spell between September and November, even scoring in his side’s stunning 4-2 win over Feyenoord.
But he has not played a single minute of action for the club since November 23. He has recently suffered with illness but is expected to return for the club.
He is one of several players out of contract in the summer. Swansea already have Joe Rodon, Ben Cabango and Brandon Cooper under contract while they have the option to extend Marc Guehi’s loan deal from Chelsea.
You can’t rule out Harries being given a new deal, although it seems unlikely at present.
Courtney Baker-Richardson (Accrington Stanley)
IT’S been a pretty torrid season for the striker who has made just three appearances for Accrington Stanley.
After his three League One outings in August, Baker-Richardson was forced to make a premature return to Swansea after suffering a groin injury.
He then scored his first goal for the club in a 5-2 win over Liverpool’s Under-21s in the Football League Trophy, but he has not been seen at
the Crown Ground since.
The forward was recently seen in the away end for Swansea’s 0-0 draw with South Wales rivals Cardiff City, while he was also in attendance for the club’s bowling night with supporters last week.
But it’s safe to say his 2019/20 season isn’t going as planned. And with his contract up in the summer, it seems the 24-year-old will be on the lookout for a new club later this year.
Jefferson Montero (Birmingham City)
HIS injury record once again limited his impact at Swansea under Graham Potter last season, so much so that the Swans allowed Montero to spend the latter half of the 2018/19 campaign on loan at West Brom.
He joined Championship rivals Birmingham last summer which ensured he would see out the final year of his Swansea contract in the Midlands. Montero’s struggles have continued at St Andrew’s.
The winger has made 13 appearances for the Blues in all competitions, although he has not played the full 90 minutes in a single one of those outings.
He’s well and truly tied to Birmingham until the end of the current season, which is good news for the Swans.
And his association with the club will officially come to an end in June, although due to his hefty wages and woeful injury record, it was blindingly obvious six months ago that that would be the case.
Joel Asoro (FC Groningen)
ASORO joined Swansea on a four-year deal from Sunderland in the summer after their relegation from the Premier League.
He failed to break into Potter’s plans and was sent to FC Groningen for the duration of the current campaign.
The 20-year-old has featured 11 times for the club this season so far, scoring two goals, both of which came in a 2-1 win over Vitesse Arnhem in November.
The Swedish winger will still have two years left to run on his Swansea contract when he returns to south Wales in the summer.
Peterson could secure a permanent move away, while Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge will see their existing contracts expire following the conclusion of the 2019/20 campaign.
Jordon Garrick will hope to be fit and firing, while the Swans could sign Aldo Kalulu on a permanent basis from Basel. But Asoro – at just 20 years of age – is someone who could find himself back in the reckoning next term, unless the club decide to cash in on him during the close season.
Steven Benda (Swindon Town)
HAVING moved on loan late on in the summer transfer window, Benda has gone on to make the No.1 jersey his own at Swindon.
The German has played a key role in ensuring his side remain at the top of League Two, with Benda keeping seven clean sheets in his 18 league outings for the Robins.
With Nordfeldt gone and Erwin Mulder likely to be released in the summer, Swansea’s goalkeeping situation will look very different next term.
It’ll be tough for the Swans to keep hold of Freddie Woodman who has excelled during his loan spell from Newcastle so far.
Benda – who recently signed a new contract to remain at Swansea until June 2022 – will be back at the Liberty Stadium next season, although it remains to be seen whether or not he’ll be first choice.
But the 21-year-old will certainly benefit from his loan at the County Ground.
“Steven Benda is getting really good game-time at Swindon who are doing well. He’s getting priceless experience really,” Cooper said at a recent fans’ forum.
“He’ll definitely fall back into our first-team squad next season. Whether it’s as number one or two remains to be seen, but we actually spoke about that the other day with Martyn Margetson.
“If Freddie is with us or not, we’ve definitely got a really good young goalkeeper in Steven and hopefully we can maximise that with him next season.”