By Graham Thomas
Luke Williams believes Swansea City’s current momentum gives them more chance of attracting quality new recruits in the January transfer window.
The Swans host Sunderland on Saturday, hoping to extend their unbeaten run to five matches.
Their midweek victory at Plymouth has left them just five points adrift of the play-off positions and head coach Williams reckons that makes West Wales a far more attractive destination for new recruits than it was a few weeks ago.
“The better we can perform between now and the window opening, the more it motivates people,” says Williams.
“It also motivates potential targets to want to come to the club If you are in a position ready to strike for something bigger.
“The opposite is true – that if you’re a team that is struggling a bit, it can potentially put a player off.”
To maintain their current upward curve and break into the top six places, then Swansea probably require a reliable goalscorer, a midfielder, and another central defender.
The gaffer reflects on this evening’s win in Plymouth
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— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) December 10, 2024
In previous recent seasons, Swansea have emerged far weaker from the January transfer window, rather than stronger.
Two years ago, the club somehow allowed six players to leave and signed only one – a chaotic shambles that gave former boss Russell Martin all the impetus he needed to look elsewhere before he eventually moved to Southampton.
In the past few weeks, however, the Swans have changed ownership and Williams believes the mistakes of the past will not be repeated.
“What I would very much like to happen, is for me to be in line with the club – not me saying, ‘I want this’ and them not giving it me, and then me throwing my toys out of the pram.
“I don’t want to be that head coach – but I am confident I won’t be. I am really happy with what I am seeing in terms of the efforts being made to secure Ben Cabango and Harry Darling.”
Cabango and Darling have been the foundation on which Swansea have built their resurgent good form in recent weeks, but both centre-backs are out of contract at the end of the season.
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Cabango was given the hard sell last week – a presentation delivered to him and his agent to try and convince the Wales defender to re-sign and Williams has revealed a similar sweet talk is about to be given to Darling.
“It’s about to happen and that’s a really good thing because I thought his (Darling) performance at Plymouth was absolutely outstanding.
“When we show him how he is playing, and how it’s projecting him forward, if you walk away from that then you have to be absolutely sure that you are going somewhere where you can continue that progress.”
The Swans are currently ninth in the table, with Watford and Middlesbrough ahead of them – the trio behind sixth-placed West Bromwich Albion.
After hosting Sunderland, the Swans travel to Hull City next week, before two festive home fixtures against Queens Park Rangers and Luton Town.
Those games provide them with a clear opportunity to extend their unbeaten run and place themselves within striking distance of the play-offs at the turn of the year.
The draw is 9/4.
Whilst Swansea are looking upwards, Cardiff City are again firmly back in a relegation struggle – their midweek 2-0 defeat at home to Preston, having dropped them back into the bottom three.
The Bluebirds are now without a win in six matches, the drift and uncertainty at the club which set in after the sacking of Erol Bulut not yet being repaired by the permanent appoint of his successor, Omer Riza.
