Adam Worth's ascent in football continues as he has been promoted to Recruitment Director at Swansea City after spending over a year at the club. It is understood that the recruitment specialist has signed a long term deal, which suggests that the remit of any incoming Director of Football will not include recruitment.

Having spoken to people close to the club recently it's clear Worth is extremely highly regarded in the game and as part of this new deal, it is believed there are several clauses that prevent him from being poached by clubs. Especially those outside the top European leagues, this keeps him from Championship rivals.

Worth will oversee the work of Chief Scout Jay Lefevre, Jay then has a cadre of scouts who he manages. They have been working very hard with Worth to review and assess his chosen targets for January and the summer.

Upon arriving in late 2024, Worth ripped up the old recruitment template and implemented his own data-driven model, which he combines with traditional scouting. He is credited with finding what many see as our best player in a decade in Ethan Galbraith (below). It was Worth who identified Zeidane Inoussa and Melker Widell and was at the front of bringing Marko Stamenic to Swansea. We exclusively reported Ethan Galbraith wanting to join Swansea City and was interested in no other club two days before he signed. He is also understood to have been the key driver in identifying both Vitor Matos and Kim Hellberg, showing that his influence extends far beyond just playing staff. What Swans fans should be aware of is that Vitor Matos was the first replacement to Alan Sheehan identified as a potential successor. He was never a last minute replacement to Kim Hellberg, the fact we are certain of this would easily be cleared up by Chairman Tom Gorringe, so possibly ask him ?

Ethan Galbraith has been a revelation since his bargain £1.5m transfer from Leyton Orient, with top agents in the game now suggesting he could fetch upwards of £15–20 million in the right transfer climate. This has left many clubs and recruitment heads in the Championship, and no doubt the Premier League, scratching their heads as to how he flew under their radars.

Ethan is exactly the type of signings that can propel a club forward financially, and the club have clearly recognised that we have something special here. Marko Stamenic is another bargain-basement purchase who is starting to make giant strides, believed to have cost around £2m, a fee that is widely regarded in football circles as a major coup for a player who had limited top-level experience before joining the Swans.

An agent we spoke to last week believes Marko’s next move will be to a top European league, with figures well above the £2M the Swans paid. He highlighted the rarity of finding a holding midfielder with Stamenic’s combination of physicality and technical ability, likening his profile to the kind that top clubs scramble for - think Rodri or Sergio Busquets. In no way are we suggesting he is on that level but what we are suggesting is he has those qualities in his game. There’s a lot more to Marko’s game than what you see when he is on the ball.

With January now upon us and some clear holes still to address in the team, most notably at right-back, where Ethan Galbraith is currently filling in for the out-of-form Josh Key, we look forward to seeing what’s next on the Swansea City conveyor belt. Despite the Swans limited spending power this window, there will be movement. There is a right back identified so we do expect that to happen.

We need to get creative, and that looks to be our newfound speciality - just as it once was ! Possibly just as you like it ?

Have a great day at Coventry City and if you get the chance come and say hello pre match.

Tel 07922 565473.

C’mon the Swans.

Any reference to this exclusive report should be credited to Swansea Independent, this is also the case for comments, reference and repetition of the news in this report.

Photograph : Open Source & MT1IMGOSP000EXL6E3 Imago / Reuters