Swansea line-up Serie A forward in bid for creative boost
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The next two weeks could be rather big in terms of Swansea City’s future, with the Welsh club desperately trying to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
After an finishing a superb eighth last season, the Swans have slipped down the pecking order under Garry Monk and subsequently Alan Curtis.
Francesco Guidolin has been brought in as head coach until the end of the season, and the Welsh club have been linked with a host of players in a bid to improve results.
The club are set to battle Sunderland for the signature of Roma’s Seydou Doumbia, and should the Black Cats win that fight, Swansea’s back-up appears to be Sassuolo’s Gregoire Defrel.
His statistics aren’t likely to dazzle the Swansea faithful, but Defrel’s main attribute is pace and a superb dribbling ability.
With Liberty Stadium failing to see someone reproduce the marauding wide displays of Nathan Dyer – now on loan at Leicester – Defrel could be the man to help Bafetimbi Gomis find the form which saw him net four goals in the first four games of the campaign.
Frenchman Defrel began his career at Parma but a failure to break into the first-team saw the 24-year-old become part of a host of swap deals between Cessena and Parma in 2012.
The winger – compared by some to AC Milan ace Jeremy Menez – quickly racked up over 100 appearances for the Serie B side, becoming one of the first names on the teamsheet.
Serie A underdogs Sassuolo came calling last summer, and Defrel has wasted no time adapting to the Italian top tier.
He’s played 19 of the Black and Greens’ 20 league games this term, and that’s a fine return with Sassuolo exceeding expectations once more to sit eighth in the table.
Valued at £3.85m by transfermarkt.co.uk, Swansea may need to stump up a little more than that to prise away a first-team regular.
Having sold Jonjo Shelvey to Newcastle for £12m however, Guidolin has funds behind him should he wish to use them.
Defrel isn’t going to set the goalscoring charts alight, but his tricks down the wing may just enable Gomis and co to find that scoring touch once again.
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