Swansea City chief executive Tom Gorringe has indicated the club are unlikely to be active in the January transfer window, following a busy summer recruitment drive.
The Swans brought in 10 new players during the summer, helping to strengthen key areas of Vitor Matos' squad. The team currently sit top of the Championship, having won five, drawn two and lost just one of their opening eight games, while also boasting the best defence in the league.
A hard-fought win over Lincoln City just before the international break left them two points clear of second-placed West Ham United, and there is growing optimism over the rest of the campaign.
Preparations already under way
Gorringe says work for the January window has already begun, but the club are unlikely to be as busy as they were in the summer. In an update to supporters, he said: "As is the nature of the industry, preparation work for the January window is already under way and I am sure that will be upon us before we know it."
"Given the size of our squad it is unlikely that we will see significant activity in the January window, however, we will ensure that we are prepared for all eventualities as we look to continually progress."
Summer recruitment praised
Reflecting on the summer, Gorringe praised the work of Jay Lefevre and his team, as well as the contribution of Jamestown Analytics, the data system used by Brighton and Hearts among others.
He said: "Entering the summer transfer window, it was clear that there were areas we wanted to address to help enable us to build on a strong end to last season: we felt we needed to improve our depth in several areas, and we wanted to make sure we added quality to the group capable of increasing the competition for places."
"We also set out to achieve balance within the group. This comes in many forms; including such parameters as age, experience and technical attributes. Having a group that all bring something to the table, will hopefully help us navigate a difficult, relentless campaign."
Gorringe added: "It is early stages in the season, and ultimately the judgement as to the success of our window will come in the fullness of time, but we feel we ended the window stronger than when we started."
Data-led but not data-only
Addressing the club's partnership with Jamestown Analytics, Gorringe explained: "They have bolstered the working practices we already had in place, by providing an extra layer of industry-leading data and information that can either reinforce our plans or require us to pause and take stock of our options."
"It is a great asset to us and it is well-documented how successful Jamestown have been across football in the UK, Europe and beyond."
"They add to the wealth of data we already utilised, but it’s important to point out that while we are data-led, our recruitment work is not data-only. We still carry out in-depth scouting work – in-person and via footage, examining on-field performance and a player’s background and character – in order to try and cover as many bases as possible."
Gorringe concluded: "I want to thank all our recruitment staff, led by Jay Lefevre reporting into our sporting director Ben Stevens, for all their diligent hard work during what is always a challenging period of the year."
