So finally it was confirmed that at Southampton on the opening day of the season we will be without Fernando Llorente but that was always likely to be the case as soon as the news of his arm injury broke.

When the club first confirmed that Llorente would miss much of pre-season with a broken arm it effectively was a statement that he would miss the opening game of the season as a minimum.

There was no way that he would just return from this injury and go straight into the side so the confirmation yesterday that he would not feature was just that really - confirmation.

The more interesting question is whether he will still be a Swansea player when the fixture comes around with Champions Chelsea still sniffing around him although they seem reluctant - and not surprisingly so - to meet the Swans valuation for the player who scored more than his fair share last season.

The new season is now less than two weeks away and it is at this point that we start expecting deals to happen thick and fast. The transfer window will be closed as soon as this month is finished and teams will start putting the final touches to their squad.

Having bought in Tammy Abraham and definitely in the market for another striker, the future of Llorente remains in doubt but I genuinely cannot see a point where he leaves for Chelsea and whilst he may miss those early games for me he will remain a Swansea player and be in a Swansea shirt when Newcastle arrive here on September 10th.

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