For a team that had to suffer the ignominy of being relegated, Swansea have done well not to have been completely plundered at the culmination of a calamitous season that resulted in regulation from the Premier League.
This may be due to the fact selling most of their key assets- namely Fernando Llorente and Gylfi Sigurðsson- was the predominant reason as to why the Swans imploded back down to the Championship, ending their seven year stint in the top division.
Ki Sung-yeung may have reached the end of his contract and jollied up to the North-East, and the disappointing André Ayew may have left his little brother Jordan behind to fly off to Fenerbahçe but there does remain to core structure still visible within the squad.
Unfortunately one integral piece is set to be removed.
One player that the fans would love to retain as they challenge for a convincing promotion bid, and even with the possibility return to the top division at the first time of asking, is the 24 year-old English centre-back Alfie Mawson.
Mawson has been one of their standouts players at the Liberty Stadium since arriving from Barnsley in 2016 for around £5million. He has gone on to made over 70 appearances for the club, and kept 17 clean-sheets. Mawson has also managed to register seven goals. Mawson played in every single game of Swansea’s ultimately catastrophic 17/18 season.
Unfortunately for fans of the South Wales club, a £20million deal taking him to newly promoted Fulham is reportedly imminent.
This transfer could rise by up to £5 million, and an agreement will be put into place between club and player early this week, which could see a deal concluded in the next several days.
Earlier in the window, though Swansea conceded number one goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski to West Ham they managed to hold out from losing Mawson also in a double-deal to East London.
With the deadline for Premier League teams acquiring players quickly approaching, earlier this year, Swansea will know another top-level offer may not be forthcoming, and would obviously undoubtedly prefer to sell to a team in another division rather than an immediate rival.
Fulham have had a exciting transfer window to reward a fantastic Championship-ending season in which the Cottagers, under Slaviša Jokanović, titillated with some of the freshest, attacking football in the division and bringing an experienced, passionate, but still incredibly young, defender is a logical step as they look to cement their Premier League status in 18/19.
Battling away the interests of experienced Premier League sides Burnley and the Hammers to take Mawson to Craven Cottage is a sure sign of intent and encouraging in West London for the forthcoming season
Losing a player of Mawson’s calibre will no doubt make the job harder for Swansea, now under the stewardship of Graham Potter, to make an immediate return to the English league’s top tier.
