Swansea’s late fightback against West Brom yesterday was the perfect curtain call on what has ultimately been a great end of the season. Whilst the Swans should be far from content with their showing this year, they can be proud of the resilience they have showed since the arrival of Paul Clement and whilst another relegation isn’t acceptable next year, we guess we’ll let them celebrate, for now.
Though, one player who has been able to hold his head throughout the campaign is Gylfi Sigurdsson. The midfielder is unsurprisingly being linked with a £25million return to Tottenham after a marvelous season, boasting nine goals and 13 assists. That means that the Icelandic man has been directly involved in 22 of Swansea’s 45 league goals this season, just short of half.
As well the goal difference of Paul Clement’s side being drastically worse off, the Swans would also be 14 points worse off were it not for Sigurdsson’s influence. This would see them in 19th place with just 27 points as opposed to 41. For his efforts this season, Sigurdsson has scooped four Man of the Match awards and unsurprisingly, the Swansea Player of the Year Award.
Clement seems hell-bent on keeping the midfielder but his head may be turned by a return to Spurs under Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentinian is also said to be tracking Ross Barkley and whilst he does remain keen on the Everton man, he knows it would set his transfer budget back some £50million and he’d be able to acquire Sigurdsson for half of that price. It is believed that Pochettino was perturbed by Sigurdsson’s sale and thought he should have never been allowed to leave White Hart Lane.
The midfielder did of course switch London for Swansea in 2014 and Pochettino had little time to exert his influence. In December Pochettino described the decision as a mistake and claimed that the midfielder would have been “perfect” for Spurs. With the likes of Eric Dier and Dele Alli been linked with moves away from Spurs, the club may just need to accumulate some new bodies in midfield and Sigurdsson would be the perfect addition.
Of the speculation surrounding the set-piece specialist’s future, Clement said: “We don’t want to sell him or any of our best players. We want to keep them here, we want to strengthen and I think he, Fernando Llorente and the others have enjoyed the second half of the season.”
It would be a huge loss for Swansea if Sigurdsson was to leave and may cause other players to head for the exit door, though should they manage to retain his services, they may just go onto enjoy a quiet season of mid-table mediocracy next season, a breath of fresh air following their recent brush with relegation. In addition to helping his teammates stay at the Liberty, if Sigurdsson is stick to around, his presence may just help convince Clement’s transfer targets to head to Wales. He is an undeniable talent and without him, Swansea would undoubtedly be down and out.
The midfielder did of course switch London for Swansea in 2014 and Pochettino had little time to exert his influence. In December Pochettino described the decision as a mistake and claimed that the midfielder would have been “perfect” for Spurs. With the likes of Eric Dier and Dele Alli been linked with moves away from Spurs, the club may just need to accumulate some new bodies in midfield and Sigurdsson would be the perfect addition.
Of the speculation surrounding the set-piece specialist’s future, Clement said: “We don’t want to sell him or any of our best players. We want to keep them here, we want to strengthen and I think he, Fernando Llorente and the others have enjoyed the second half of the season.”
It would be a huge loss for Swansea if Sigurdsson was to leave and may cause other players to head for the exit door, though should they manage to retain his services, they may just go onto enjoy a quiet season of mid-table mediocracy next season, a breath of fresh air following their recent brush with relegation. In addition to helping his teammates stay at the Liberty, if Sigurdsson is stick to around, his presence may just help convince Clement’s transfer targets to head to Wales. He is an undeniable talent and without him, Swansea would undoubtedly be down and out.
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