A notable exclusion as Swansea City travel to London
Saturday, 23rd Jul 2022 14:02 by @Cornish67David

It looks like there will be further discussion surrounding Swansea City defender Nathanael Ogbeta as he has not travelled with the Swansea City squad to London. The club play their final friendly of the season at Charlton Athletic today ( Kick Off 3pm)

And he didn’t feature in the under 21 side that played this morning defeating Brentford B 4-2.

The swans tried to offload Ogbeta a few weeks ago with two clubs interested in his signature. The player who only joined Swansea City in January refused the move and reportedly told Russell Martin he wanted to prove his worth at Swansea. Excluding the injury excuse most clubs wheel out in situations like this, there has to be questions asked on his Swansea future. Nathanael it seems has been given some time out to consider what we understand is further interest in him.

Speaking after his home debut last season Ogbeta said "I’ve watched a lot of the analysis, but I haven’t really been able to work with the gaffer and the team on the demands or what they want from me, so it’s going to be a pivotal time for me to learn and really be an asset to the team. The aim is to really understand the style of play and give it our all. We don’t want to just let these games go to waste. We want to use every game to learn, to grow and improve.”

Many swans fans were hopeful as well.

If the player has been told to consider a move and isn’t in Russell Martin’s plans for the season the three hundred plus thousand pounds fee paid for him, on the surface will not be recouped in full. A loan could still be an option. Russell Martin has explained to numerous players they are not in his plans since his arrival. Ryan Bennett is anonymous at training and despite continued speculation Jay Fulton still seems to be on the fringes of first team selection. Annoyingly that will be because he has turned down offers from other championship clubs who cannot rival his salary at Swansea.

In Ogbeta’s case it seems the recent departure of Mark Allen has left a sting in the tail. Using his ex Manchester City links he drove the late January transfer from Shrewsbury to the swans, and immediately, despite a minor injury it seems Ogbeta wasn’t in favour. Questions went unanswered as Ogbeta failed to start a game last season, and coupled with the four hundred thousand pounds transfer of Andy Fisher from MK Dons the window seemed flawed and fans were somewhat unhappy.

Both players on the surface looked decent propositions, Fisher because he knew the Martin way of playing out from the back, although hearts in mouths at least twice a game ensued. And Ogbeta who supplied plenty of evidence of his pace and quality whilst in league one seemed an ideal choice for Martin. Fisher has been persisted with whilst Ogbeta has seen himself either on the bench or a non participant in the match day squad. Whether this is a slight against Mark Allen who left the club somewhat rapidly just after Ogbeta joined the swans is open to speculation.

However, unless Ogbeta has made a late dash driving solo to London late last night, and we are refuting the injury excuse, it seems the player has some immediate decisions to make with the season only one week away. What those decisions are we will surely find out, but it’s safe to say that once again he finds himself excluded from the Swansea City squad at a time when he really wants to show his worth.