Swansea Focus - Laudrup’s men enjoy perfect start to Premier League season
A rampant start to a Premier League campaign is always what newly appointed managers dream of, but rarely do they actually achieve that dream. It appears as though new Swansea City boss Michael Laudrup has kick-started the Welsh club’s second successive top-flight campaign with an almighty bang.
A five-goal romp over Queens Park Rangers, managed by Welshman Mark Hughes, recorded the Liberty Stadium outfit’s biggest ever Premier League win and ensured QPR lost their first opening day fixture for seven years.
Just a week later, the Swans produced a 3-0 home masterclass over newly promoted West Ham, with the Jacks also emerging victorious against Barnsley just three days later in the League Cup.
New signing Michu has impressed the most so far this campaign, the Spaniard hit the back of the net twice at QPR before racking up another against West Ham a week later. Michu’s rip-roaring start to the season has already broken records, trumping Fernando Torres’ record for a Spanish player reaching three Premier League goals in the shortest time.
He may have only played two competitive games for the Swans so far, but Michu is already looking like being one of the summer’s biggest transfer bargains. The Spaniard signed for the Welsh club in a three-year-deal worth £2m from Rayo Vallecano a few weeks back and the 26-year-old is already looking on the way to replicating his impressive tally of 15 goals in 37 appearances for Vallecano.
Nathan Dyer and Danny Graham are two Swansea veterans that have put in spectacular performances in the Welsh club’s first two games this campaign, with the duo often combining up front.
José Flores, nicknamed Chico, is another new signing who looked to be on excellent form in Swansea’s 5-0 masterclass over QPR two weeks ago. Although a defender at heart, the Spaniard proved to be highly dangerous from corner kicks and the 25-year-old often made many attacking movements up front, hitting the post several times in the process. Chico missed Swansea’s midweek League Cup clash with Barnsley due to a minor groin niggle, but he should be back up to full health for Saturday’s clash against Sunderland.
Despite starting the season in spectacular fashion, their recent results could prove to be a curse in disguise for the Jacks. With the transfer window still open, players such as Nathan Dyer, Angel Rangel and even Danny Graham could attract the attention of bigger clubs with far larger wallets.
Losing any more players could prove to be disastrous for the South Wales club. Laudrup has done brilliantly to recover from the loss of Joe Allen to Liverpool and Gylfi Sigurddsson to Tottenham, but he could very well be lacking both the time and resources to replicate such actions if a player was to be sold at this late stage.
Staying on the topic of transfers, Scott Sinclair has joined Premier League champions Manchester City. The Welsh club initially rejected the Sky Blues’ £6.2m bid for Sinclair, but later accepted after an additional add-on to the deal was added that could potentially increase Swansea’s paypacket for the former Chelsea talisman by a further £2m.
Swansea reportedly turned down City’s bid for Sinclair because of a loop-hole in the striker’s contract that could potentially result in Chelsea receiving a percentage of the transfer fee should Sinclair be sold on.
See what the expert tipsters at OLBG are tipping on Swansea v Sunderland
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