Throwback Thursday: The Magic of Michu

Signed in July 2012 for a mere £3m from Rayo Vallecano, no one could have predicted Michu’s stunning first season for Swansea City.

Fresh off the back of a strong debut season in the Premier League, Swansea were looking to build on their success.

Losing out on the permanent signing of the talismanic Gylfi Sigurdsson was a hammer blow to their plans, particularly after the Icelandic national had provided the thrust behind their strong second half to the season.

Enter Michu.

Swansea’s lack of spending power was apparently laid bare when they had to draft in an unknown Spaniard from Rayo Vallecano. Michu was hardly seen as the man to take Swansea to the next level.

He was excellent in his last season in Spain, netting 15 goals in La Liga as Vallecano narrowly avoided relegation, sealing survival with a 1-0 win against Granada on the final matchday.

But it was not enough to get the Premier League excited, and Michu was largely written off as another budget signing by a relegation-threatened club, good for a couple of goals during the season, but hardly ready to set the world on fire.