Stoke City have rejected a bid from Swansea City for striker Kenwyne Jones. Why exactly are they trying to sign him?
We’ve all got used to watching Swansea play neat and tidy football since they got into the Premier League so it’s a little bizarre as to why they are ready to pay over £3 million for Kenwyne Jones from Stoke.
This is not to suggest that Jones is a bad player, far from it, but he is a linchpin of the way Stoke currently play their football; physical, ugly, rough, insert some other adjectives if you please.
As with all of the transfer stories at the moment, the sticking price is the fee with Stoke holding out to closer to the £8 million they originally paid for Jones, believed to be ready to settle at around £5 million.
So what would it mean if he became a Swansea player? Is he even good or adaptable enough to fit into Swansea’s style of play?
The answer to the first question is it would mean Swansea having a formidable front line any time Michu and Jones started in attack together.
The answer to the second question is yes because Michu has shown this season that you can be a huge striker and still have great touches and movement in and around the penalty area.
There are two things Swansea fans can read into this potential signing; Danny Graham is about to leave the club and Michael Laudrup just wants a player to get on the end of every creative move.
Graham has been heavily linked with a move up to the North East with Sunderland which is the area he’s originally from. While it may not seem to make much sense, Swansea could let him go if they have a replacement.
Jones is never going to quickly become a touch player like Pablo Hernandez in the current Swansea team but he will do the ugly things which the Swansea attack currently struggles with.
He will increase their threat from set pieces and he will be the poacher, the player who lurks around the penalty area looking for any excuse to stick the ball into the back of the net.
It also presents him with an opportunity that he may never thought he’d be getting in the respect that he would join a side that play some of the best football in the Premier League.
This would give him a chance to play football facing away from his own goal for once.
If you’re a Swansea fan, do you want Jones at your club?