Swansea City foolish to let Ashley Williams go

The past season has been a mixed bag for Welsh club Swansea City. Finishing mid table was a success after losing manager and club legend Gary Monk. However with Everton on the prowl for their captain, they’d be crazy to let him go.

Many fans of big clubs would turn their noses up if you said a 12^th place finish is successful. After Swansea City’s incredible success over the last decade, many seem to forget that they are by no means a big club, with all due respect.

Related Story: Everton better off with Ashley Williams over Stones

To put their miraculous rise from League Two to being a consistent Premier League team that can beat any top side on their day (just ask Manchester United fans) into perspective you need to understand that just 11 years ago, Swansea City were a team that were bouncing up and down between League One and Two or Division 3 and 2 as they were called back then.

You could compare them to a club like Bristol Rovers or Crewe (along with many more). These are clubs that are toying with promotion and relegation each season.

Imagine a club like Crewe rising through the football pyramid and cementing their place in the top flight.

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While we may take fairytales like this for granted with Leicester City’s title win, we shouldn’t hide the fact that Swansea City has been managed incredibly well by their board this past decade by not diving into decisions based on a player’s reputation or a manager’s name but by getting the best fit for their club.

With the new Premier League TV deal, money is by no means hard to come by and teams are fighting with everything they have to stay in the league.

Being relegated could mean clubs get into huge financial trouble despite parachute payments and FFP being in place to prevent another club ending up like Portsmouth or Leeds.

Swansea City are no exception to this fear and after being linked with Leicester City target man Leonardo Ulloa and Sevilla’s Fernando Lorente, they looked at the start of the summer to be on track for another great finish.

The ridiculous money that Premier League teams will be receiving leaves Swansea City with absolutely no excuse in becoming a ‘selling club’ despite them historically being a smaller team.

The board, who so far have done everything right, have realised this.

Swansea City aren’t just looking to bring in fresh faces, they’re looking to keep their proven quality with Gylfi Sigurdsson signing a new four-year deal after being linked with a £25m move to Everton after scoring 11 goals in 35 games last season.

Everton’s new manager Ronald Koeman has so far failed to bring in any new players and as their interest over Sigurdsson fell through, they moved their scope to a new target.

Captain Ashley Williams is now subject to speculation after Swansea rejected a £10m bid for the Welshman’s services.

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Should Swansea let him go, they’d be taking one step forward and two steps back after securing another four years with the Iceland midfielder Sigurdsson. With the new-found speculation surrounding striker Andre Ayew, they may be simply walking backwards should they accept.

It is understood that Swansea City have valued Ayew at £20m and will not accepted any bid that is lower.

West Ham are yet to officially bid on the player who’s contract runs out in 2019 and is one of only two strikers at the side as Ayew’s partner in crime Gomis has left for France to join Marseille on a season long loan.

Ashley Williams represents everything Swansea City are about, his hard work and graft has seen him rise from League One in spectacular fashion. The 31 year old has spent 8 years with the Welsh side, playing a total of 319 games since his move in 2008.

After a brilliant summer with his National Team, Wales, Williams has been in the spotlight, with two years left on his four-year deal, Swansea City would be in big trouble should they lose him.

A leader from the back, Williams was responsible for the Swansea defence that conceded 52 goals last season.

Should Swansea City lose all three players in Williams, Ayew and Gomis, they have less than two weeks before the recommencement of the Premier League. This leaves little time to sign replacements and for them to train and gel with the team.

Next: Everton know all about Swansea’s Ashley Williams struggle

It would be uncharacteristic of Swansea City to make mistakes like this, however in football anything can happen both on and off the pitch.