Swansea City should shut the doors on Southampton deals
If newspaper reports are to be believed then Russell Martin is planning to try and take many of his Swansea City squad to Southampton with him.
Whether it is lazy journalism or an indication of Russell Martin’s scouting ability it is hard to tell but there is one thing that I am totally convinced on and that is that the Swans should simply refuse to deal with Southampton again or at least certainly until they pay out the right amount of compensation for the approach to Martin.
Whilst that particular row seems likely to be heading towards a courtroom near you sometime soon with the two sides still divided over whether Southampton were a Premier League or Championship club at the time they decided they wanted to approach Russell Martin.
That decision should be simple but it is anything but and it should mean that Paul Watson and Andy Coleman put up the “no entry” signs for any approach for our players for the time being. As well as reports that Matt Grimes and Jay Fulton are potential targets (I just can’t see it) we also have links with the out of contract Ryan Manning and even Joel Piroe is a potential target (Leicester lead the way)
If that wasn’t enough we then had links yesterday with defensive duo Ben Cabango and Nathan Wood. The links should come with one large dollop of salt given that they came from the Sun but even so if there was any truth in them we should be resisting any move for either player from Southampton or any other club.
With the reappointment of Martyn Margeston coming to the club to shore up some of the issues that we have had in the goalkeeping department, Michael Duff should be doing all he can to tell those in charge that we need to keep two of our key defenders at the club. Most succesful clubs are built on the back of strong defensive units and for me Cabango and Wood are essential for us to do just that
Both of them performed stronger the longer last season went on and with both getting international recognition during the season then they will be an essential part of us building on last season and maybe pushing on for promotion this time around.
I guess it will be only natural that there is interest in one or both of the players on that basis but whilst most of us have accepted that we will see the departure of Joel Piroe this summer, the loss of two of our defence will be hard to bear and – equally importantly – expensive to replace.
And Michael Duff doesn’t deserve that!
