Brighton midfielder Yalcouye set for Swansea loan
Malick Yalcouye watched Swansea beat Crawley on Tuesday
- Published
Swansea City are poised to sign Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Malick Yalcouye on loan for the remainder of the 2025-26 season.
Yalcouye has been a prime target for Swans head coach Alan Sheehan, who believes the 19-year-old can be a key player at the Championship club this season.
The Ivory Coast Under-23 cap watched Swansea's Carabao Cup win over Crawley Town on Tuesday and is expected to complete his move to Wales on Wednesday.
"He is a player who will improve us, a player with so much energy and so highly rated," Sheehan said.
"Some top-league clubs were after him so for him to decide to come here is wonderful. We'll look after him.
"I think when you know the level of clubs that were after him, for him to believe in what we want to do here and decide to come here, it shows we are doing some good work."
Yalcouye will join Swansea having spent last season on loan at Sturm Graz, where he made 26 league appearances to help the Austrian side win their domestic title and also played eight times in the Champions League.
He arrived at Brighton for a reported £6m fee in the summer of 2024 having made just 11 senior appearances for Swedish side IFK Gothenburg.
Malick Yalcouye was named in the Austrian Bundeliga's team of the season for 2024-25
Sheehan believes Yalcouye will bring the sort of energy and dynamism which Lewis O'Brien offered during his loan spell at the Welsh club during the second half of last season.
Swansea had thought they were close to securing Yalcouye's signature before the new Championship campaign began with defeat at Middlesbrough last weekend, only for the move to be delayed.
Yalcouye is likely to be joined by one more midfield recruit in the current transfer window, with Swansea keen to strengthen further having lost O'Brien, Joe Allen and Myles Peart-Harris this summer.
Although born in Mali, Yalcouye also holds citizenship for the Ivory Coast.
When Yalcouye moved to the Amex Stadium, on a contract until 2029, Seagulls head coach Fabian Hurzeler described the youngster as "a talented midfielder with lots of potential to develop into a top-class player".
