He has most certainly earned himself a reputation as a seriously decent goal scorer in the championship this season. His name is Joel Piroe and by all accounts without him there is no party.
Now on twenty goals for the season, that’s a goal every other game the twenty two year old discovery from Woezik in Holland has turned a few heads. Oddly enough more than Dominic Solanke who is on twenty six goals for the season, and Ben Brereton DÃaz who is on twenty one. Joel Piroe was superbly scouted by the swans last season despite then manager Steve Cooper being suspiciously absent in the press surrounding the signing.
We kept everyone abreast of matters in mid to late June last year regards his signing. The club announced it officially a week later.
âš½ï¸ That report is here.
Piroe signs for Swansea City
Erkan Kara and Thomas Henry were other options at the time but the swans recruitment team decided to put their faith in Piroe. And that judgement has been endorsed as the season has progressed. Despite an uncertain start in a new environment Joel has blossomed under Russell Martin and enjoys his life, the training and game time at the club.
When he arrived at Swansea Piroe was positive and wanted to set ‘goals’ for the season. Speaking then he said "I want to play a lot of games and hopefully score a lot too. I think it’s a very important season for me. I’ll be 22 in a few weeks, so I need to play a lot more now. I looked at the level of the Championship, and it’s a decent competition. It is a team that has ambitions of being promoted, and I like to play for a team that has big ambitions.” The swans certainly honoured those ambitions and have continued to do so throughout the season.
Russell Martin too has commented on Piroe’s advancement this season, and has admitted it didn’t start well. "I think it's gone very differently to how I thought it was going to go with Joel in the first week. He's shown big character, and when he gets a chance you expect him to score such is the quality he possesses. He has a huge future in the game, and hopefully we get the chance to work with him for a long time and keep improving him. The first chat we had, and I think Joel will tell you, it wasn't an overly positive one. There's a certain level of intensity we expect that he didn't bring in the first week or two. I've been honest about that, and so has Joel. He came from a very different culture where the expectation and style of play is really different, and the minute he switched on and realised it could really suit him, he's been incredible. It was about giving him clarity and wow, he's been huge. You can see how much the supporters love him, but I still think there's a lot more to come from him."
However there is a serious caveat to Joel Piroe and interested clubs will have to realise it.
No club in the championship plays the way Swansea City do, so any club coming down looking to poach Piroe would do well to think that through. Even under Steve Cooper Rhian Brewster shone in a white shirt, but he lost his gloss as soon as he left the club. It would take a huge punt from a premier league club to get Piroe’s signature and it can’t be anything less than ten minion pounds, no messing. Even then that club has to play to his strengths, Swansea City do, the work on it daily, they have a mentality that suits the Dutchman, and he thrives off it. Would Leicester City a club we wrote about as monitoring him in December be that flexible to facilitate Joel Piroe ?
If you think hard about a club in the premier league that plays to a similar style to that of the swans you have to look high up the league, much higher than the teams who would be interested in him. It would take a huge hit to any clubs budget to secure Piroe’s services, and let’s be honest not many clubs want to make ten million pound gambles.
Clearly what the swans need to do now is offer a new and improved contract to Piroe, sit him down and be focussed on next season. He has time on his hands and if the expectations are high for a premier league return for the swans next season then why not ? A new contract signals to everyone where Piroe stands, and if that can be negotiated before the madness starts in June then it should be done.
Joel has contributed to the Swansea City goal stats this season, in fact he’s scored around thirty five percent of the teams goals home and away. That’s a valuable player, and if next season a worthwhile attempt is to be made by Swansea to earn promotion then he should be a part of that. He fits the club, and has worked hard to get where he is, as we know Rome wasn’t built in a day, and Joel Piroe needs Swansea as much as they need him. A move away from the club that has developed him so well after such a short spell could damage his career at this stage.
If it didn’t go well he could easily find himself in a situation where he falls out of favour.
He has most certainly earned the attention he is receiving, but one season as we have seen so many times before won’t define a career. Remember one Miguel Pérez Cuesta ? That’s a decent reference point.