Creative Celina can profit from key duo’s return
THE returns of Wilfried Bony and Jefferson Montero to the Swansea City bench last Saturday were most welcome.
Manager Graham Potter has been without the striker all season due to the knee ligament injury he sustained last February and, despite doubts over his long-term future in SA1, having a fit and available Bony at his disposal is a boost in any shape or form.
It’s easy to forget but he was playing in the knock-out stages of the Champions League just over two years ago. Montero, too, has been a big miss. The Ecuadorian started the season in electric form, producing matchwinning cameos against Sheffield United and Millwall before succumbing to a thigh injury just as his campaign was beginning to take flight.
This is the lot of a football manager, of course, and Potter has made do without the pair, with Swansea doing well during their absence.
Having them as impact options against Bolton was a pleasant sight – not just for Potter, but for the fans, too.
And there is one player in particular who will surely be licking his lips at the prospect of working with both of them.
Bersant Celina has been superb since making the summer switch from Manchester City, with the £3 million fee Swansea paid for the playmaker looking more like a bargain with every passing week.
An awful lot of what has been good in Swansea’s attacking play so far this season has largely come through the Kosovo international; he is the creative fulcrum in Potter’s side, the manager’s on-field conductor if you will.
He seems to be on the same wavelength as others – indeed sometimes he appears to be one step ahead of his team-mates, perhaps an indication of his Premier League potential.
In the early weeks of the season we saw flickers of a budding relationship developing with Montero down Swansea’s left-hand flank.
The game at The New Den is a case in point, with the 23-year-old sliding a delicate pass through for the winger to centre for the advancing Oli Mcburnie to slot home.
“Jefferson is a very, very good player and a great person too,” Celina said after the game in London.
“He has unbelievable talent and he has shown that in the games in which he has come on.
“When you have a player on the pitch like Jeff, it gives you hope in any game.
“When I get the ball I think to myself: ‘Okay, find Jeff’. I can see the fear he puts into the opposition.
“The role he played at Millwall was so vital to our win. He got at the fullback and set up two goals, which was an amazing impact.”
The comparison has been made between Celina and Gylfi Sigurdsson, formerly of this parish, who also had a fruitful relationship with Montero.
Sigurdsson had an almost telepathic partnership with Bony, too, during their time together in SA1, with the Icelander frequently fizzing in possession to Bony’s feet, where he would immediately trap the ball and slip in overlapping attackers. It was devastating to watch and extremely difficult to defend against.
We have yet to see Celina and Bony playing together properly but the two players’ attributes suggest they would dovetail well.
We do of course have to acknowledge that Mcburnie is likely to remain first-choice striker, and his own relationship with Celina is going from strength to strength. Bony, should he remain fit, offers that something different.
Potter himself had recently agreed there was a possibility of Mcburnie and Bony playing alongside each other and, at Bolton on the weekend, the Scot moved into a withdrawn wide role as Bony played through the middle.
As long as the two stay injury free – and given their records that is far from certain – you’d think they will occupy two places on the bench at least in the build-up to Christmas.
Montero’s impact demands a berth, meaning players such as Yan Dhanda may have to bide their time and look to impress for the under23s. George Byers, too, may also have to play the waiting game. Players such as Nathan Dyer, Wayne Routledge and Luciano Narsingh remain out of the picture.
Bony’s return suggests Courtney Baker-richardson may also have to do the hard yards with Gary Richards and Cameron Toshack’s under-23 side. But as long as he and the others are getting regular minutes, they will always be options for Potter to utilise in the matchday squad.
Baker-richardson and Dhanda et al have proved they are capable of performing at Championship level; but the comebacks of more established stars means they will have to wait a bit longer for regular opportunities.
Whether that will still be the case beyond the end of the January window remains to be seen.