Character is the key factor, says Swans boss on targets

RUSSELL Martin says a player’s character will be the most important trait he seeks in new signings this summer.

A big summer overhaul is expected at the Swansea.com Stadium ahead of next season, with the process already well under way.

Swansea City announced their retained list on Thursday, with 18 players heading out of the door, while more are expected to follow suit from the first team.

That means a fair few will need to be brought in, and the head coach says it will be players’ mentality that will be measured above anything else.

“Character is the key thing. Character comes before talent, before physicality and all that stuff,” said Martin (circled, right).

“Whoever comes in needs the character to be brave enough to play the way we want to play, and to be part of an incredible group of players.

“The skipper (Matt Grimes) leads it. He shows no ego, he is willing to take on new things and is so brave.

“That filters down through guys like Kyle Naughton who is also so brave, and Jamie Paterson, who shows his bravery in that mad, maverick way of his.

“You have Michael Obafemi with his energy, then lads like Flynn Downes and Ben Cabango who are finding their way.

“So we want character, we will not sign someone who is dynamic and athletic if they do not have the right character to be a part of this group.

“Character comes first, and the biggest thing is it has to be someone who sees the big picture, who wants to be here and is brave enough to play the way we want to.

“We want people who have not built up a fear of expressing themselves, or people who are looking to overcome that fear and show what they are capable of.

“I am really excited about bringing in players like that.”

In a wide-ranging interview on the club’s website, Martin revealed the phone hasn’t stopped ringing amid the club’s work on deals, adding that he can’t lose sleep over potential departures.

The likes of Joel Piroe have been heavily touted to leave SA1 this summer, with Leicester City keen on the Dutchman.

“I cannot lose any sleep or stress about whether we will lose any of our players, we just have to be ready for whatever happens, and I think we are,” he added.

“We are ready for any situation, we have targets in all positions and that has been constant work from January onwards.

“All of that work has been going on and still is going on.

“We are not on a break, there is plenty of stuff going on, there are phone calls constantly.

“We are clear in what we want. I don’t know if we will get all of what we want, or some of what we want or if we will get any of what we want.

“We just have to be ready and clear on why we need certain things, and I am sure that will come to light over the next weeks.

“There is so much noise about the transfer window, but we need to focus on what we need and what we are doing.

“We want to avoid being in a position where we do something at the last minute because we think we have to.

“Transfer windows are not easy, but you want to end up with good players and characters who are right for us. We are excited to see the changes we can make.

“We had issues with squad depth at times last season, but the core group who played a lot were brilliant and we need to add around them.”