Udinese are the club Swansea City aspire to become - in their country's highest league, housed in a small, modern stadium with passionate fans, renowned for spotting and developing young talent, and constantly punching above their weight.

Udinese Calcio, to give them their full name, are based in the small city of Udine. It might be located in Italy but the region - like Swansea - has a strong and proud local identity. The Slovenian border is a mere 20km to the east, while Austria is 57km to the north. The greater region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia is one of five "autonomous regions with special statute" along with Aosta Valley, Sardinia, Sicily, and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.

Their footballing philosophy is equally distinct compared to their league rivals. For such a smartly and efficiently run club, it may surprise readers to know that Giampaolo Pozzo is the owner of Udinese. His son, Gino Pozzo, is now the owner of Watford FC, a club famed for their hiring and firing under the Pozzo regime. It is this link that led South Wales Derby hero Ben Wilmot to a short loan spell at Udinese during his time at the Hornets. Current Udinese manager, Kosta Runjaić, has been in situ since taking over from World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro in 2024.

Italian football has long had a reputation for being sceptical of young, precocious talent. Udinese buck that trend, putting faith in inexperienced, untested players. Nowadays we call that Moneyball, previously it was called doing what you can to survive. And they have survived a long time. The second longest of any club, to be exact. Only Genoa Football and Cricket Club can assert to be older. Genoa, however, can claim to have won nine Scudetto league championships; Udinese have never won one, sort of. The club was founded before the Italian Football Federation even existed, meaning that, since the current FIGC was not yet created, their victory in the 1896 national football tournament does not count as an official title - their forever "forgotten Scudetto", as most fans call it.

Fast forward to today, and the Swans' opponent later this afternoon will be hoping for another year free of relegation danger. Last season's 10th place finish was their highest since a 5th place finish in 2012-13, achieved under ex-Swansea boss Francesco Guidolin. Back then, club legend and double Serie A golden boot winner Antonio Di Natale was still firing in the goals for Le Zebrette ("The Little Zebras"). Di Natale played alongside the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Fabio Quagliarella, Bruno Fernandes, and Juan Cuadrado in the early stages of their careers. Erling Haaland narrowly missed out on adding his name to their roll of honour. Club scouts identified a young Haaland in Norway with Molde, but deemed his fee too risky for their budget. Udinese's loss would be Salzburg's gain.

Speaking of which, this afternoon's game will be in the Salzburg region. Mittersill is a stunning little village nestled in the Austrian Alps. The Swans have not shown too much in their first two games in Austria and it will not get any easier today. Unlike many top-flight clubs, Udinese were almost entirely unaffected by the World Cup (insert joke about Italy not qualifying here). Indeed, the Swans had more players involved. Only Sweden's Jesper Karlström featured, playing in the group games against Tunisia and the Netherlands.

Another World Cup star, Elijah Just will most likely make a cameo this afternoon, alongside other new boy Joseph Opoku. The Swans apparently beat top-flight interest to secure their signatures, so fans will be expectant of a fast start.

Legend has it that the hill in Udine city centre was built by Attila the Hun. Swansea won't need to conquer any mountains in Mittersill this afternoon, but producing their most competitive performance of pre-season would be a welcome start.

Come and find out for yourself.

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