The news that Leon Britton will not feature until at least the end of September probably increases the need for the Swans to head back into the transfer market and see if they can sign a defensive midfielder.

When it was first announced that Britton would miss the early weeks of the season there was some comfort that he would be back sooner rather than later but that is now not the case and even the end of September seems a bit optimistic in my book.

The reports are stating the end of September is the earliest that we will see a Britton return but the reality is that could easily slip into October and with an international break taking up the middle of that month it could be as late as the back end of October that we see him back in his shirt and doing what he does best.

We have stated this summer that we have needed defensive cover in midfield for Britton but with Ki, Shelvey and the recently added Tom Carroll I guess we were at the stage that we could cope with a short term absence but this is now closing in on long term and the return from a stress fracture is never that simple.

Thus you would hope that we move into the transfer market in the next few days before the window closes even if it is to secure a short term loan to cover this position. Given Leon's age though and the need to have cover in every position then the preference would always be a permanent signing and one who can slot into that position not just in the case of injury but to provide real competition for a starting place.

Of course that is easier said than done although we have been tracking targets over the course of the summer so we don't know whether we were waiting for news on Leon before finalising any of those moves or whether they have just died off anyway.

Leon has been a massive part of our success in the Premier League given the defensive midfield role that he plays for the team and replacing him will never be easy but it has to be a move that we now look to make before the window closes next Monday to add an extra fight to the midfield that I am not sure we get from the options that we currently have available.

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