You Can't Win Anything With Kids: How a Lack Of Experience In Swansea's Transfers Could Damage Them
Swansea's transfer policy this summer has been quite obvious upon reflection. Though the club have only signed three new players (and only paid an actual transfer fee for one), all of them are 19 years old. It's clear Graham Potter is looking at a fresh approach in every sense of the word, and wants to utilise youth in the rebuilding project on his hands - which is a hugely exciting thought, yet it could easily go wrong.
Let's start at the beginning. Dropping into the Championship poses problems, most of all, financially. So what do the club aim to do? Sell their most pricey assets - Wilfried Bony, Lukasz Fabianski, Jordan and Andre Ayew, Roque Mesa; the list goes on and on.
Anyone that another team would pay a pretty penny for, they're out. Quite rightly so; the club is full of dead wood. This is Potter's team now and he wants the players to match. There's nothing wrong with building up a bit of a fund - especially now that Swansea can no longer rely on the Premier League TV money.
All good, right? 'You can't win anything with kids,' Alan Hansen's famous quote was beautifully quashed by a plucky bunch of youngsters in Manchester United's class of '92, and since then everyone watches on in excitement whenever a teenage sensation takes to the field.
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It truly would be something, if the Swans were to be able to make an immediate return to the top flight having won the Championship with a bunch of Under-23's, but realistically that is a monumental ask.
Of course, there will be older generation players: Jordi Amat, Kristoffer Nordfeldt, Leroy Fer, Tom Carroll and so on - but none of them are into their 30's yet. And no serious links have arrived in regards to a more 'experienced' player. There was a week of talk about potentially signing Bournemouth's Harry Arter, but rumours have since died a death.
Now it's all Liverpool youngsters, Manchester City youngsters, lower league prodigies determined to make their mark.
The Championship season is a long one. 42 games, two matches a week. Yes, the players Potter brings in will be young, and they won't tire so much, but football is as much a mental game as it is a physical one - if not more.
What happens if the Swans hit a roadblock - a drop of form perhaps? A few matches without a win; they need an experienced player - like they had with Leon Britton - to guide them through. That man is not there, nor does he look to be en route.
Yan Dhanda is hardly going to turn to Wayne Routledge for help, is he?
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Another factor is Championship experience is vital. So far, we've got Oli McBurnie who played half a season with Barnsley and Joel Asoro who played a bit part role last term with Sunderland. It's not enough.
Too many of the club's players are accustomed to the lavish life of the Premier League, or they're just getting to grips with professional football.
One promising rumour going round at the moment if that Swansea might be interested in Fernando Forestieri, who has spent most of his career in the second tier. Him, alongside a couple of other Championship 'veterans' would go a long way.
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Potter probably knows this, and while he struggles to offload the higher earning players, the likelihood is that he's lining up moves for these older players who can offer more than just potential.
Until that moment, though, there's reason to be slightly concerned.
Alternatively, the transition of Under-23's into the first team might go swimmingly, with no bumps in the road; all earning themselves a swift return to the Premier League, but this is just the devil's advocate whispering in your ear.
Just some food for thought.
