Mark Allen and Julian Winter have gently eased players out on loan, and it seems the third is Liam Cullen this morning. Reports yesterday suggested he was on his way to Lincoln City for the remainder of the season. We include Ethan Laird as well as the fourth outgoing player this month, so far.

As we know there isn’t a whole load of spare cash around so money has to be recovered from somewhere.

It’s incredible when you look at the salaries of players who even at this level can drain the resources of a football club when they are either sitting games out or not being selected at all. Chatting to an interested party yesterday regards the savings it seems these three loans out plus Laird have saved Swansea City around 95k a month. You can understand why the club wants players out when the money saved on salaries is as we estimate. With Jay Fulton on an estimated 45k a month and Yan Dhanda around half that you can add another 65k a month.

The figures that can be saved are astronomical.

On the four loans going out, Cullen all being considered that’s around half a million pounds until the end of the season saved. If Fulton and Dhanda do the right thing this month that’s around 270k added to the total. This puts the swans on a season saving of an estimated 750k if Dhanda and Fulton join the exodus. Hey presto, with all that money saved you’ve got yourself a Matt O’Riley. It’s simple economics we know that, but it’s incredible for sure that players who really haven’t impacted on a club all season ( Laird aside ) can still demand such salaries.

It’s more than clear that Russell Martin would be delighted with Dhanda and Fulton’s representatives to secure permanent deals away from the club. And despite certain mutterings Fulton just isn’t going to feature in games for the remainder of the season. Martin has made that clear. Jake Bidwell it seems is a bit of a mystery today as well. There’s really nothing about to indicate he is near a move, but as we all know that could change as any hour passes us by. And when you look at Bidwell’s recent game time you do get the impression he too knows he isn’t in Martin’s immediate plans. Bidwell’s contract is up in June, there’s clearly no indication he will sign a new deal at Swansea, and he is a saleable asset. If estimations are right if he left the swans this month it would be another 10k a week ( some say higher ) 40k a month, meaning by the end of the season 160k would be saved by him leaving. Plus you would think a nominal fee would also be included.

Rhys Williams on loan from Liverpool is really just occupying a loan slot more than costing the swans massive amounts of money, possibly 20k a month in total. But it does add up, 80k saved by the end of the season. Where he stands is simple when you reflect on his game time since his Luton racial abuse incident. Martin would potentially agree to him returning ( if recalled ) if one or two from Tommy Doyle, James McAtee or defender Joshua Wilson-Esbrand were added to his squad, albeit on loan. With Laird gone and potentially Williams the club would still only have two loans in this January if the Manchester City links come off.

Kyle Joseph being recalled adds to the overall bill, and if he does play for the swans this month the only club he could return to is Cheltenham Town. Ollie Cooper is stopping where he is at Newport, and Jordon Garrick seems safe from a recall from Plymouth.

Yes, two new loans do have to be paid for, as does the down payment for Andrew Fisher believed to be 180k, and his salary which is not yet known. But these fees are easily recouped by the money saved as we have discussed. The only other question mark is will the swans want to follow up the inquiry for Michael Obafemi ? It is a genuine contact so is there value in a loan fee plus his salary covered by loaning him out ? That would most certainly need the swans to bring in another striker, and more than likely two. For us it doesn’t add up, however that’s where we are. Yesterday was a bit of a stock clearance day for the swans, it must tell us all there’s much more to come, and now with under twenty days to go, let’s hope so.

Photographs licensed from Reuters

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