Five Swans who’ll need to step it up if they’re to stay in Clement’s plans
SWANSEA City begin their pre-season fixtures this week while the Premier League season is little more than a month away.
Paul Clement has already made three additions to his squad, bringing in goalkeeper Erwin Mulder, midfielder Roque Mesa and striker Tammy Abraham while allowing Jordi Amat and record signing Borja Baston to leave the club on season-long loan deals.
But which players already among his ranks need to deliver the goods on a more consistent basis next term?
These are the five men who will feel they have a point to prove next season... Luciano Narsingh The Dutchman arrived in south Wales from PSV Eindhoven in January but was unable to make his debut until transfer deadline day having been sidelined with a calf injury. However, he soon had the Swansea faithful on the edge of their seats as he demonstrated his blistering pace shortly after coming on for his debut against Southampton on transfer deadline day to set up Gylfi Sigurdsson to score the winner.
But he was unable to make a real impression in the latter half of the campaign, with the winger making just three starts so far for the Swans and only playing the full 90 minutes once.
He demonstrated with his assist for Fernando Llorente’s late winner in the 2-1 win over West Brom on the Liberty on the final day that his trickery and guile could prove to be vital if he can show his skills on a more consistent basis.
At 26 years of age, Narsingh will feel he’s on the brink on entering the prime years of his career, and there really is the feel that there’s plenty more to come from the Dutchman next season if he can shake off his injury issues and enjoy a solid pre-season. Jordan Ayew Like Narsingh, Jordan Ayew – brother of former Swan Andre – made the move to south Wales shortly after Paul Clement’s arrival at the club during the winter window.
Again, like Narsingh, Ayew had to wait to make his Swansea bow after starring for Ghana in the Africa Cup of Nations, with the 25-year-old coming on as a 72nd minute substitute in the 2-0 win over Leicester on February 12.
He was largely restricted to substitute appearances in the earlier parts of his Swansea career, and when he was handed a more prominent role in the side, things didn’t go to plan.
Ayew was tasked with leading the line against Middlesbrough, Tottenham and West Ham in the absence of star striker Fernando Llorente – who came on as a substitute against the Hammers – and, while he claimed the assist for Routledge’s goal against Spurs – the Ghanaian failed to impress as the Swans collected just one point out of nine from those encounters.
The re-introduction of club stalwart Leon Britton into the side for the Swans’ final five matches galvanised both the players and the supporters, and it seemed to have worked wonders for Ayew who grew in confidence in the final weeks of the campaign, turning in arguably his most impressive display to date in the 1-0 win over Everton.
Ayew’s hard work finally paid off as he netted his first goal for the club against West Brom on the final day before departing in the 89th minute to a standing ovation, which sets him up perfectly for his first full campaign with the club. Federico Fernandez Ashley Williams left a huge hole to fill when he opted to join Everton for £12m last summer after leading Wales to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 in France.
And following the 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth on New Year’s Eve, the Swans had shipped a league high of 44 goals during the opening half of the Premier League campaign.
While Alfie Mawson has gone on to prove he has enormous potential, the centre-back only made his debut for the club in mid-November under Bob Bradley meaning the mantle of replacing Williams appeared to fall on the shoulders of Fernandez.
He certainly wasn’t helped by the American manager’s rotation policy, with Mike van der Hoorn also being thrown into central defence on numerous occasions.
But Clement’s main priority when he arrived at the Liberty was sorting the club’s leaky defence, and he soon realised that consistency would be key as he chose to deploy Fernandez and Mawson in the centre-back berths in every single league game in which he has taken charge of the Swans to date.
Fernandez flourished alongside Mawson and turned in a barn-storming display in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford having signed a new contract with the club in February.
And with the Swansea boss set to continue to show faith in the Argentine and Mawson, Fernandez will be eager to show his early season form last time out was largely down to poor tactics and team selection rather than his own personal ability.