This is the player that got away from Swansea City. Some would call him special, others who haven’t heard of him would possibly just shrug their shoulders. But special he is, and in and amongst other legitimate targets, two who remain today, he is described as Premier League quality.

That player is twenty four year old Willem Geubbels, now contracted to Paris FC.

Had he signed for Swansea City there seems little doubt he would have proven to be a success, well for us in any event. As we know though that isn’t always the way. And maybe there are some clues in this report. First of all we can take a look at Willem’s career leading up to his move last week.

We can see and as reports suggest he was a wonder kid at sixteen but really his moves across France be that Lyon, Monaco or Nice he struggled. Spending around five years in Monaco he found the level hard even though he was just sixteen years and ten months on joining. The rumoured fee was twenty million euros with a big sell on for Monaco should he leave. Monaco were patient but for all of the time he was at the sovereign city- with all the trappings his football suffered. Upon his contract running out he was available on a free transfer in 2023. St Gallen stepped in and easily secured Geubbels. His estimated salary was around €5,000 upon signing but he soon started making waves. Scoring goals is a good thing for a centre forward, in fact Geubbels, can play right across the front line and he was scoring goals from any angle.

The issues for us were and still remain is that Geubbels from his debut at sixteen for Lyon and joining St Gallen played forty seven competitive matches scoring four goals in over five years. That will be the reasoning for Monaco releasing him and indeed his lack of improvement over that time as well. Another clear reason was persistent hamstring injuries and break downs in recovery which reoccurred over his first three years at Monaco. The wonder kid tag plus the huge transfer fee wouldn’t have helped either.

Here are Willem’s transfer details with ages.

1. Lyon → Monaco (June 2018)
• Age: 16 years, 10 months
• (Big €20m transfer, one of the most expensive ever for a teenager that young.)
2. Monaco → Nantes (loan, August 2021)
• Age: 20 years, 0 months
• (Loan for a season, won the Coupe de France with Nantes.)
3. Return from loan to Monaco (June 2022)
• Age: 20 years, 10 months
4. Monaco → St. Gallen (July 2023)
• Age: 21 years, 11 months
5. St. Gallen → Paris FC (August 2025)
• Age: 24 years, 0 months

Swansea City stepped into the transfer frame after Willem found his feet and his goal scoring boots at St Gallen. The research had been ongoing for many months. Whilst Willem bagged his goals the Swans made a decision in May of this year to up the anti and aimed high. We have already seen the business the Swans did during the early part of this summer window, Willem was on that list. Those players didn’t just turn up in May, they had been sourced, researched and targeted for many months, even last year. Just like Geubbels.

The talks were in-depth at times, taking place in Switzerland and over media communications. The use of TransferRoom is especially useful in enabling conversations such as this. Another area we looked at was the comparison between the English Championship and Swiss Super League. (top tier in Switzerland) That league in general is usually referred to as comparable with mid table in the Championship - with the top sides maybe bottom third in the Premier League or top Championship. That was another reason why we were surprised that a player who is untested in such a fast and competitive league like the Championship - and who had a poor record before joining St Gallen would be seen as going all out for. When it was divulged to us the name and club this player was from it became of so much interest we started our work.

However, with the way the club has gone about its business this summer, who is anyone to criticise ?

The Swans went as high as they felt the player was worth, then some, and it was so close at the end with Willem finding the Swans, the celebrity links, the Swans ability to go to such lengths and finances nearly pipping Paris FC. On the run up to the Sheffield United game, head coach, Alan Sheehan stated the same, it was close. The information we had was confirmation that this was the Swans man. We had a report around two weeks ago stating it was on the brink. However, what really swung the deal for Paris FC was their final offer to get Willem, on his birthday too. They upped their bid above the Swans, added nearly three million in add ons and made a deal on the sell on fee for Monaco. That was nearly twenty seven percent. That did it, deal done.

Around nine million euros, plus add ons and a whacking salary for Guebbels and there it was - gone.

Willem will be worth keeping an eye on this season at Paris FC, they are heavily backed financially and with him on a five year contract will he become the one who got away ? At that price, hell no. It was a huge gamble, but we are still being reminded of his quality and improvement. His shot accuracy isn’t brilliant, but he does have a lot of them to get to twenty four goals for St Gallen.

⚽️ Transfer Rumour : Word is that FC Schalke 04 centre forward Moussa Sylla could be revisited. News on that is that ESC exemption (elite standard) allows English registered league clubs a limited number of slots to sign talented young players from abroad. We will keep an eye on that one.

⚽️ As reported at the start of this piece the Swans still have two striker targets, one we understand could well be in talks by this evening. (Ex)

⚽️ Fun Fact : Eberechi Eze, the new £67.5M Arsenal player was rejected by the Swans after his release from Millwall. He came on trial when the Swans were in the Premier League, at that time he was eighteen. Other clubs including QPR, Reading and Bristol City also rejected him.

Photographs : IMAGO/Rolf Simeon via Reuters Connect & already referenced

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