Why Swansea City should reignite their interest in Jonathan Williams

Back in June, a report from Wales Online had claimed that Swansea City were among a host of clubs interested in completing a deal for Jonathan Williams, who was a free agent back then following his release from Crystal Palace.

The 26-year-old, who spent the second half of the 2018-19 campaign on loan at Charlton Atheltic and guided the Addicks to a promotion-winning campaign in League One via the playoffs, had also emerged as a target for Brentford, West Brom, Derby County, Norwich City and Luton Town. (h/t Wales Online)

However, the Welsh international eventually rejoined Charlton Athletic on a free transfer this past summer, with the Addicks successfully fending off interest in the race to secure the playmaker’s services.

Swansea City, on the other hand, resorted to making a number of low-cost additions to bolster several areas of their squad despite landing a significant windfall from the sales of Oliver McBurnie and Daniel James to Sheffield United and Man United respectively.

The likes of Sam Surridge, Ben Wilmot, Aldo Kalulu and Freddie Woodman were roped in on loan from various clubs while Jake Bidwell completed a free transfer to the Liberty Stadium. Swedish winger Kristoffer Peterson was the only signing to come through the door for some kind of a transfer fee this past summer. 

Following some significant departures from the Liberty Stadium in the summer, including a deal that saw former manager Graham Potter complete a switch to Brighton, the Swans had been tipped for a tough season in the Championship under Steve Cooper. 

However, a positive run of results over the past four months has seen Swansea City lay down a marker as one of the playoff contenders. In fact, they were once the pace-setters in the Championship before being usurped by promotion rivals West Brom, Leeds United and Preston. 

Despite that, the Swans currently find themselves 8th in the standings, just a point adrift of the top-six in the division and the promotion noise the Liberty Stadium is only going to get louder if the Swans manage to rack up the points in the coming months. 

With that in mind, though, they might need to improve on a mediocre-looking tally of 24 goals in 19 games during the second half of the campaign in order to fight toe-to-toe with their promotion rivals. 

While a new striker to reduce the reliance on Borja Baston and Andre Ayew continues to be a necessity heading into the mid-season trading period, it would also make sense for Cooper to scout the market for a new creative midfielder in January. 

To that end, Swansea City making a renewed attempt to sign Jonathan Williams in January could pay off handsomely. The 26-year-old made a positive impact at The Valley in the Championship this term, racking up 5 assists in 12 appearances for the Addicks before a knee injury suffered against Derby County in October thwarted his progress.

However, according to the South London Press, Charlton manager Lee Bowyer has confirmed that Williams could be set for a return to action in December, meaning that Swansea making an attempt to lure him to the Liberty Stadium in January would make perfect sense. 

Verdict

Bersant Celina has made a real impression in the No.10 role behind the striker in Cooper’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system while George Byers has also had his opportunities to shine.

However, neither of them has been able to deliver goals and assists on a consistent basis and Williams certainly has the experience to make a difference in the second half of the campaign.

The 19-cap Welsh international boasts of significant loan experience in the Championship, which is another reason why Swansea should reignite their interest in his services in January.

Of course, he is not going to be available on a free transfer this time around, but the Swans should look to bolster their promotion hopes with a significant outlay in January, having raised a lot of cash from some big-money sales this past summer. 

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Swansea City going back in the market for Jonathan Williams in January would certainly be a good idea and one that could be a massive boost to their promotion hopes.