It’s been reported today that we’re interested in signing Swedish defender Linus Wahlqvist in the new year, but we face competition from Stoke City and Anderlecht.

Wahlqvist currently plays for his Swedish hometown club Norrkoping and is under contract until 2018, but seems to have his heart set on bigger things. According to the ever-reliable Daily Star he recently said "After three seasons in the base I feel ready for a new challenge, but I am also happy."

Evidently he is quite a promising player, as he has already played two games for the Swedish national side, even though he has just turned 20. Last season he played 33 games for Norrkoping in all competitions, yet picked up only two yellow cards in the process.

This makes him a virtual ever present in a country where they only play 30 league games, even though Norrkoping were good enough to finish third in Sweden’s top division in the 2016 season. But what puzzles me about our reported interest is that he’s a right back, and I would have thought we’ve got more than enough cover for that position already.

Not only have we signed Luke Ayling, but we’ve also got Gaetano Berardi and the option of young Lewis Coyle, although the latter sees his best position as playing further forward on that flank. Perhaps we’d be better off looking for another left-back, with the possibility of losing Charlie Taylor either in January or at the end of the season.

But I’m sure Garry Monk knows what he’s doing. With Wahlqvist’s promise it’s no surprise that he is attracting interest from the top division in more than one country, but at least we would have his compatriot Pontus Jansson to keep him company.

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