Marvellous Marvin?

With news surfacing that Brendan Rodgers has made another signing for Swansea City in the last couple of hours, a few Swans fans tilt their heads and ask “why another winger?” Well, being short on blogging material thanks to the international break, I have looked into Marvin Emnes and here’s what’s emerged:

22 years old
Born in Rotterdam, Netherlands
Made 3 appearances for Netherlands under-21 side

That’s the essentials out of the way. Down to the other facts.

He doesn’t seem immensely goal capable for a winger (this may be an unfair remark as I am probably subconsciously comparing him with Scott Sinclair); only scoring 9 goals in 56 appearances for Sparta Rotterdam and only 1 goal in the 31 appearances for Middlesbrough (guess who he scored that against? That’s right; Swansea City), but Rodgers has made it clear his why he has signed the Dutchman (thanks to this article for the following quote):

“We've got a few young players in the squad who are not going to last every minute of every game'

'And I just feel we lack pace on both wings when Scott (Sinclair) or Nathan (Dyer) aren't playing. Marvin has a lot of pace and can go people in one on one situations.”

Fair enough. From a couple of clips that I’ve seen of him, I would agree he is speedy. And from the below clip that I’ve fished from the dregs of YouTube, you can see him scoring a magnificent solo(ish) goal for Sparta Rotterdam!



Some of the Swans fans now un-tilt their heads and say “ah right, I understand”, but a few may still be confused as to why it’s only a month loan period. Rumour has it that Emnes was a signing that Rodgers wanted to make before the start of the season, but for one reason or another it never happened. This is good news as we now see it isn’t just an impulse buy like that overpriced lip balm I bought from Boots the other day. This is just the first opportunity Rodgers has properly had.

But surely a month isn’t long enough? Well, if we’re going by calendar months it should be: we have a whopping 8 games in the next 33 days or so, which, providing he plays at least 6 of them, should be enough exposure for the fans and Brendan Rodgers to make the decision. Pursuading Middlesbrough to let him go permenantly shouldn’t be too difficult – he’s only made 31 appearances for them since 2008.

But Emnes? I hadn’t heard of him before today. Is he really worth having?

Well, I’d never heard of Scott Sinclair until he joined the Swans, and that worked out pretty well! Will this be another Rodgers miracle signing? Hopefully we’ll find out tomorrow.