Swansea City head coach Alan Sheehan insists the club are still working hard to add new faces before the Championship season begins — but stopped short of confirming any interest in Wycombe Wanderers striker Richard Kone.
Kone, 21, was left out of the Wycombe squad for their League One opener at Bradford, prompting speculation that a move elsewhere may be imminent.
Swansea are in the market for a forward and have been linked with the Ivorian, who scored 18 goals in League One last season.
But asked directly whether Swansea were closing in on the pacey striker, Sheehan offered little in the way of confirmation.
"There is a lot of noise about that, but it's not something I would comment on," said the Irishman when pressed on the matter.
Still, Sheehan made it clear that Swansea are far from finished in the transfer market.
"All going well, yeah," he replied when asked if a new addition was likely before Saturday's Championship opener away at Middlesbrough.
"We are in talks with players, but we are not going to just sign anyone, it's got to be the right fit for the football club in order to make us better.
"We've made good quality signings and maybe will make a couple more before the end of the window."
The Swans have already added Cameron Burgess, Ricardo Santos, Ethan Galbraith, Zeidane Inoussa and Bobby Wales to their ranks, while Swedish midfielder Melker Widell is available after returning from a loan spell at Aalborg BK.
But with the likes of Harry Darling, Kyle Naughton, Joe Allen and Lewis O’Brien all moving on, Sheehan knows the squad remains thin — particularly at centre-back and up front.
"There has been a lot of change, we have done good business, but we will also need to bring in more," he added.
"There's a recruitment strategy with Adam Worth onto us daily. We are as a football club quite active to bring in more players."
Sheehan’s comments came after Swansea rounded off their pre-season schedule with a 3–1 home defeat to Ligue 1 outfit Lorient — a game the Swans boss felt offered important lessons heading into the campaign.
Lorient proved stern opposition at the Swansea.com Stadium, with Pablo Pagis netting twice and Mohamed Bamba converting from the penalty spot.
READ MORE: Snoop Dogg And Swansea City Set Sights On “Doggumentary” Series To Out-Wrexham Wrexham
Swansea’s goal came courtesy of a Liam Cullen penalty, though the forward also had a header ruled out for offside.
Widell and Ronald both had chances to score, but couldn’t convert.
Reflecting on the match, Sheehan admitted his team fell short of their standards in the first half but improved after the break.
“That was a very good test, it was certainly the toughest test that we have had in pre-season and I think it was the right one,” he said.
“As a group we did not like a lot of what we did in that first half, in the second half we were a bit more like ourselves.
“It still wasn’t perfect, but we got a goal and could have had a couple more, and aspects of that second half were a lot, lot better.
“We were more on the front foot, we will have a lot to take out of it, we will debrief it and look through it.
“There are aspects we will be okay with, but there will be aspects we will need to be a lot better at when the serious business starts.”
One small boost for Sheehan was the return to action of Zeidane Inoussa and Jisung Eom, who both came off the bench in the final 25 minutes as they continue their recovery from injury.
With the countdown to kick-off at the Riverside Stadium now into its final days, Sheehan will hope to have a clearer picture on both his squad's fitness — and whether that elusive forward, possibly Kone, will be in the building by the weekend.
For now, though, he’s keeping his cards close to his chest.
READ MORE: Swansea City Rip Into Wrexham Thanks To Dogg Bite
