No matter which way you put it, or how certain quarters try to dismiss it there has been talk this week again of Joel Piroe and his immediate Swansea City future. We will have to repeat that no firm offers have been made for Piroe but contact has been made in the last forty eight hours regards his availability and price.

We decided to speak with a very decent source regards this and we have been told that multiple inquiries have been received by the swans in recent times but ‘nothing’ has transpired. These inquiries have been described as via agents employed by clubs to source players, other intermediary’s and in one case and this isn’t confirmed elsewhere, direct contact with ‘the club’ regards Piroe’s availability. We will reiterate this is unconfirmed. The source of the contact isn’t known.

It’s safe to say that whatever that contact is, from whom and the context of it will be known by Russell Martin who is heavily involved in all aspects of club transfers and recruitment. We saw this when Steven Benda became of interest to Peterborough United.

Joel has travelled with the swans squad for todays friendly game at Charlton Athletic. ( Kick Off 3pm )

However, if any club is leading the chase for Joel Piroe it will be Leeds United in our opinion, a club with a fistful of money available for a goalscorer. They are also under increased pressure by their fan base to recruit players fearing another relegation battle this season, Leeds have seen two key departures this summer, with Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha moving to Manchester City and Barcelona respectively, while Newcastle United have a big interest in Jack Harrison .

Brighton are still in the market for a striker and defender, and Wolves too are in the market for a cheaper option forward. Bruno Lage the Wolves manager is a big fan of the way the swans manage their transfers and academy, he was once a coach at Swansea. Wanderers have just spent twenty million pounds on Nathan Collins from relegated Burnley hence their lower transfer budget this summer.

Back to Leeds and Charles De Ketelaere of Bruges Is keen to sort his future out with Leeds United and AC Milan fighting it out for his signature, if Leeds are successful the attacking midfielder will cost big money, far more than Piroe. Swans fans will breath a huge sigh of relief if that happens. A delegation from Milan, including technical director Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara, flew to Belgium for a direct meeting over the Charles De Ketelaere deal on Wednesday. It was expected that they would present a third and final offer for the player. However, Maldini and Massara left Belgium without an agreement in place. Leeds United have bid far more than AC Milan.

Having dug deeper in to the interest of Leeds in Piroe we have managed to find out that if Charles De Ketelaere does fall through then Junior Adamu of Salzburg will be a target, and Piroe is down the list, in fact surely he will be seen as a back up if he did go to the club. Especially in that company. Trying to play this down won’t work this week or as the final month of the transfer window approaches. Swansea City haven’t made any comment at all, a swift ‘not for sale’ would be extremely well received. However, that just won’t happen, Russell Martin has already left the door open with comments that if Piroe does leave it will be for a massive fee. Anyone who thinks it will be less than fifteen million hasn’t been paying attention.

These latest disclosures could be ignored or we could lay them on the table for discussion and debate, either way Piroe is still of interest to premier league clubs and the swans will sell if the fee is right.

And that’s the concern because replacing a player such as Piroe will be difficult, so much so any chances of a good championship season could well be scuppered along with Russell Martin’s Swansea future, it’s that big a decision.

Photographs licensed from Reuters

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