Following a rip-roaring end to the 2024-25 season under the leadership of then caretaker boss Alan Sheehan, Swansea City have quietly gone about their business to build for the upcoming campaign.
Former Republic of Ireland Under-21 international Sheehan was handed the role permanently a few days prior to the final day 3-3 draw with Oxford at the Swansea.com Stadium.
The 38-year-old oversaw a run in which the Swans claimed 24 points from 13 matches at a rate of 1.85 points per game, the joint-third highest in the Championship across his stint as boss following the departure of Luke Williams in February.
It came after several players - including club captain Ben Cabango - expressed their desire to see Sheehan land the role on a full-time basis.
All the while, Richard Montague had already arrived as the new director of football as the shake-up from the Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan era continued.
Tom Gorringe was also promoted to the role of chief executive officer only a month after he joined Swansea as chief operating officer.
They wasted no time in ensuring Swansea bolstered their ranks ahead of what will be Sheehan's first ever full campaign in senior management.
Melker Widell - who won his first cap for Sweden in February - will link up with Swansea for the first time this summer having spent the period after the January transfer window of last season on loan with Danish club Aalborg.
He will be joined by Stockholm-born Zeidane Inoussa following the winger's move from BK Häcken, while striker Bobby Wales and centre-back Ricardo Santos have already joined from Kilmarnock and Bolton respectively.
Montague recently addressed the media to provide fans with an insight into the latest happenings at the club, opening up on Harry Darling's situation in the process.
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The central defender impressed throughout last season and contributed five goals to the cause.
But with the 25-year-old's contract expiring this summer and strong interest in the defender from Norwich City, there appears to be little hope of Darling extending his three-year stay with Swansea.
However, Montague was quick to confirm the club had already started scouring the transfer market for defensive reinforcements, which will be music to the ears of the Jack Army given the shambolic nature of so many windows under the previous regime.
It means for what seems something of a rarity, Swansea appear to be on track, or maybe even ahead of the curve, when it comes to their quest to hit the ground running in early August.
There is, of course, still a significant amount of work to be done.
The exits of Kyle Naughton and academy product Joe Allen represent an enormous loss of experience while loan men Lewis O’Brien, Hannes Delcroix and Myles Peart-Harris have all returned to their parent clubs.
They also still have out-of-favour forwards Mykola Kuharevich and Jerry Yates - who spent last season on loan at Hibernian and Derby respectively - and unfancied left-back Nathan Tjoe-A-On on their books.
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The likes of Josh Tymon, Josh Key, Jay Fulton and Josh Ginnelly all see their contracts expire next year as well - with Montague stating he wants to avoid another Darling-type situation where valuable players can leave the club for nothing.
But the swift resolution of the managerial situation combined with the addition of new recruits has fully emphasised the club's eagerness to make headway, and quickly - in stark contrast to their neighbours along the M4 at Cardiff City, who continue to dither ahead of their League One campaign.
The bookmakers don’t appear to be buying much of the optimism, though.
They are mostly tipping the Swans to finish at the top end of the bottom half of the Championship next year – around the 11th to 15th mark.
In contrast, new Championship rivals Wrexham - on the back of three successive promotions – are rather more fancied than Sheehan's men to finish in the top six.
But there is hope behind-the-scenes that Swansea are going under the radar quite nicely, and if Sheehan can build on his highly impressive second spell as interim boss, there seems every chance the Swans can challenge for a play-off berth next term.
READ MORE: Alan Sheehan Says The Time Was Right To Start Calling The Shots At Swansea City
