Ronald: More to come from Swansea City's Brazilian winger, says Luke Williams
- Published
Ronald has started every Swansea game since making his debut as a substitute at Leicester City in January
Head coach Luke Williams says there is much more to come from Ronald despite the Brazilian winger's impressive start to life at Swansea City.
Ronald joined Swansea in January from Brazilian side Gremio Anapolis having spent the previous 18 months on loan in Portugal with Estrela da Amadora.
The 22-year-old has featured in all seven Swansea games since joining the Championship club.
"He's taking the opportunity with both hands," said Williams.
"He has great quality, but I think it's his personality that's getting him the rewards on the pitch.
"He's been given a role at the moment and he's applying himself fantastically to it. He's showing he has the courage to score, as well as trying to provide for others.
"But I think there's a lot more to come from Ronald. We are going to see some exciting individual play from him."
Ronald scored his first two Swansea goals in their key win at Sunderland in late February.
He is yet to register an assist for the Welsh side, though he would have had a handful already but for poor finishing from his team-mates.
Swansea paid a seven-figure fee for Ronald having been impressed by his performances during his stint in Portugal.
"The recruitment team brought this to me, and it gave me the opportunity to watch a lot of Ronald's footage, that then developed into me having a meeting with him," Williams added.
"Even through a laptop you could tell he was a guy with determination and grit.
"When I first watched Ronald play, he was playing on rough pitches against rough opposition.
"You could see he was a marked man and players were unforgiving with their challenges, but he stood up to that."
'Can we get this done?'
Williams said one particular incident in an Estrela da Amadora game convinced him Ronald was the right player for Swansea.
"Ronald had a ball played into him, he was on the touchline," he explained.
"The opposition full-back obviously had him marked. Ronald looked and saw him and as he looked back at the ball, the ball had bobbled towards head height.
"The lad went in to flatten him, but Ronald controlled and flipped the ball over his head and span around him. The defender just ended up eating grass.
"At that moment I stopped watching, phoned the chairman and said 'can we get this done?'."
Ronald is expected to make his seventh straight Swansea start at Watford on Wednesday night.
After five defeats in their first seven league games under Williams, Swansea go in search of a third straight win at they look to pull clear of the second-tier relegation scrap.
Josh Key could make a first appearance since 22 December after recovering from a hamstring problem, while Swansea are monitoring Jamie Paterson after he was forced off during last Saturday's 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers.