Borja Baston wants Andre Ayew to join him in staying for the season at Swansea City.
Spanish striker Borja and Ghanaian captain Ayew both appeared destined to leave the Liberty Stadium earlier this summer as the club looked to continue slashing costs.
But with few takers, the pair were recently re-introduced to the squad and both have responded with eye-catching performances to help their side to third place in the early Championship table.
Borja scored twice in the 3-2 victory over Preston at the weekend to make it three goals in as many games.
Ayew – on as an early substitute – added to his midweek goal against Northampton in the Carabao Cup, with another influential display in which he linked well with Borja in the second-half.
Borja has said he wants to stay at Swansea and has urged Ayew to do the same in the belief the pair can drive forward the club’s promotion bid.
The transfer deadline for European clubs to make a move for either player is September 2, but Borja said: “Andre is a really good player.
“I’m really happy to play with him and I hope he stays here with the team and with me.
“I think we have a lot of high quality players here. The gaffer has a lot of options in the front line. He has Andre, me, Sam (Surridge), Aldo (Kalulu), Kris (Peterson), Wayne (Routledge) – a lot of good players.”
Borja, 26, went almost three years without a goal for Swansea as he was left on the sidelines and then loaned back to Spain for spells with Malaga and Alaves.
Now, Cooper has given him a second opportunity and the former Atletico Madrid player believes he is more mature – both physically and emotionally – this time around.
“When I came here before, I had scored a lot of goals in Spain but the football here is totally different,” added the striker who joined Swansea back in 2016 in the era of Francesco Guidolin.
Since then, he has been surplus to the requirements of Bob Bradley, Alan Curtis, Paul Clement, Leon Britton, Carlos Carvalhal and Graham Potter.
But he insists: “Now, I have the confidence to play and fight with the defenders. My teammates also have more confidence in me.
“I had a contract and when I signed with Swansea I was very happy to sign. The problem was that in Spain I was playing every game, but here I didn’t play a lot.
“Now, I’m playing and that is the most important thing for me – to be on the pitch. Now, I’m happy.
“We are going to try and win as many games as possible to stay in the top positions and I want to help the team do that.
“I hope to score more goals to help the team to go forward.
Since I came back to the club, I am a different player from before. I have more confidence now and I hope to show my qualities to the fans and to the club.
“I am training hard to show those qualities and I have to say thank you to my teammates for letting me do that.
“For now, I am happy in Swansea. I am playing and scoring goals, so I don’t have to say any more. I am training every day and playing matches, so that is the main thing.”
Borja and Ayew will have an opportunity to continue their Swansea renaissance when the club go to QPR on Wednesday night, before hosting Birmingham City on Sunday.
