Swansea will be one of those clubs suffering a nail-biting end to the transfer window. At least the anxiety pertains to arrivals rather than potential departures.
Swansea have long been interested in taking Tom Ince to the club. The BBC reported yesterday that talks had taken place between the player and Swansea boss Michael Laudrup:
Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup says the club is waiting to hear if Tom Ince will join from Blackpool.
The 21-year-old winger has had talks with the Swans, but has not indicated if he will make the move to the Liberty Stadium.
“I have spoken to him, I can’t say anything more,” Laudrup confirmed.
“[But] this is a player who is in the situation and has only a few months left of his contract and he can do whatever he wants to.”
But, as most of you will know by now, a certain Merseyside giant has apparently entered the race for the player’s signature, after missing out on new Chelsea signing Mohammad Salah.
And now Stoke have got involved in what is turning out to be one of the craziest potential transfer deals the winter window. Ince was earlier seen at Stoke’s training ground, we assume, to have discussions about a potential deal.
Other clubs to have reportedly shown an interest in Ince include Monaco, Crystal Palace and Cardiff. But with the latest news bookmakers Skybet now have Stoke as favourites to land the player in January at odds of 4/6. Swansea are now second favourites to sign the player in this window at odds of 100/30.
Ince has played 100 times for Blackpool scoring 30 goals in the process – a great scoring record for someone who so often plays out wide. At 21 years of age he has played at every youth level for the England international team but hasn’t made the breakthrough to the senior side. He could well feel that he needs to play in The Premier League in order to do this. He might even be an outside bet for Brazil 2014 if he plays out of his skin for the remainder of the season.
Swansea and Stoke fans – do you think that you will clinch the deal and do you want the player to join the club?
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