By David Williams
Michael Duff revealed Swansea City are in talks with £1.5m-rated Stoke City defender Josh Tymon after watching his team bow out of the Carabao Cup.
The Swans went down 3-2 at home to Bournemouth in a game where the strength in depth of the Premier League club was the telling factor.
Jamie Paterson had scored a late equaliser for Swansea but a 91st minute winner from Ryan Christie proved enough to take the Cherries through to the third round.
It was a gulf in back up resources that Duff acknowledged before confirming his club are in talks with left back Tymon.
“He’s a left-back, and we need a left-back. So people can put two and two together quite a lot,” said Duff.
“I think he’s a good player. I’ve watched quite a lot of him. I watched him when he was a young lad coming through.
“But he’s not the only left-back we’ve been talking to.
“We’ve had loads of bids turned down. We’ve had loads of bids accepted that have been turned down by the player in terms of personal terms.”
“Without labouring the point, we know we need a few people in and hopefully we’ll get that. If we don’t, we don’t. It is what it is.
“We just have to try and improve every day.”
Asked Michael Duff about Josh Tymon tonight amid suggestions the Swans have submitted a bid.
Also updates on Davis and Benda in here: #Swans https://t.co/18yT9EEdGM
— Tom Coleman (@tomEcoleman) August 29, 2023
The Swans will bring in around £1m when they complete the sale of injured goalkeeper Steven Benda to Fulham.
“I don’t think it’s complete. I think it’s close,” added Duff.
“I think Steven made it clear he wasn’t going to sign a new contract. We probably wouldn’t have seen him until January.
“So are we in a position to turn down the money for a goalkeeper that would have only been available for three or four months. We think we’ve got a good goalkeeper in Carl [Rushworth] anyway.
“It suited him. It suited the club and I think it was a fairly easy deal to be honest.”
https://twitter.com/JordanWebber96/status/1696620805382103062?s=20
David Brooks scored his first goal for over two years to help steer Bournemouth past the Swans and earn the praise of his manager, Andoni Iraola.
Having made his return from cancer treatment at the end of last season, Brooks has been increasingly influential for his club, enough for Iraola to make him captain for this game in the country Brooks represents.
The 26-year-old’s previous goal for his club was in August 2021, two months before his diagnosis with Hodgkin lymphoma put him out of football for 18 months.
“He was the captain today, and it’s good that he scored,” said Iraola after Brooks had made it 1-1, before the same player created a goal for Hamed Traore to give the Cherries the lead.
“Like the others, he was much better in the second half. He’s trying to push himself and fight for a starting place. It is good to have this kind of competition.”
https://twitter.com/onlyswanss/status/1696285829893685271?s=20
After falling behind to a penalty by Swansea captain Matt Grimes – awarded for handball against Chris Mepham – Brooks’ classy equaliser in the 55th minute ushered in a period of Bournemouth dominance.
It was Brooks’ run and cross that enabled Traore to make it 2-1, but Swansea recovered and seemed to have taken the game towards penalties when Jamie Paterson shot through a crowd of players to make it 2-2 with 11 minutes remaining.
Ryan Christie came off the bench to restore Bournemouth’s lead when he swept the ball home in the 91st minute to earn a first win as manager for Iraola, although he is still searching for his first Premier League victory after three matches.
Iraola had made three decisive changes at half-time when he brought on Dominic Solanke, Lewis Cook and Milos Kerkez.
Duff – who is also without a win in the Championship since he succeeded Russell Martin – said: “Ultimately, they still had to bring their big guns on to see us off.
“The strength of their bench shows the gaps have got big again. The gulf between the leagues is now as big as it was 15 years ago.”
https://twitter.com/weare_stoke/status/1696284482330894390?s=20