Swansea City

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

The feeling at Swansea City is that they have done smart business in the transfer market so far this summer, but there will surely be a recognition that there is plenty more still to do.

The new Championship season is a little over a fortnight away and, as was the case this time last year, Swansea's squad looks thin in parts.

There have been five signings so far – centre-backs Cameron Burgess and Ricardo Santos, midfielder Ethan Galbraith, winger Zeidane Inoussa and young striker Bobby Wales.

Melker Widell is a sixth new face, having joined up with Swansea this summer after his move was agreed during the previous transfer window, while Andy Fisher, Jerry Yates and youngsters Cameron Congreve and Joel Cotterill are back in Wales after loan spells away.

But of the squad that finished last season, Jon McLaughlin, Harry Darling, Kyle Naughton, Cyrus Christie, Kristian Pedersen, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, Joe Allen, Hannes Delcroix, Myles Peart-Harris and Lewis O'Brien have gone.

Mykola Kuharevich has said a permanent farewell following his loan spell at Hibernian, while Nathan Broome is another name on the list of exits having joined Bolton Wanderers this week after last spring's loan spell at Port Vale.

More departures are likely, with Josh Ginnelly and Yates seemingly surplus to requirements and Ben Lloyd set to go out on loan.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

So a tally of 12 departures so far may soon rise to 14, with only nine players – including Congreve and Cotterill – coming the other way.

And this is a squad, remember, which many felt was light in certain departments last season – even before the mid-season sales of Azeem Abdulai and captain Matt Grimes.

As it stands, Swansea have only two senior goalkeepers so are in need of another option there.

With the likes of Ben Cabango and Santos injured, Alan Sheehan also looks short of alternatives in central defence, where long-serving midfielder Jay Fulton has been forced to fill in during this week's pre-season friendlies.

At right-back, it seems youngster Sam Parker – who has had a small taste of first-team football - is next in line should anything happen to Josh Key, while the next left-back off the rank should anything happen to Josh Tymon is 19-year-old academy product Seb Dabrowski.

Swansea were lucky Tymon proved so durable last season given their lack of options on the left side of defence. They surely cannot gamble on the former Stoke City man playing almost every game once more in 2025-26.

If there is depth anywhere in Sheehan's squad, it is in midfield, with the versatile Widell and Galbraith now on board.

Nevertheless, Swansea wanted to bring O'Brien back, so there will presumably be an appetite to look elsewhere with the Nottingham Forest man now heading for Wrexham.

Image source, Getty Images

The fact that Wrexham have been able to trump Swansea financially in their pursuit of O'Brien is a reminder that the south Wales club are not one of the Championship's big hitters.

That goes a long way to explaining why they have signed only one player who is a proven performer in the second tier in Burgess – and he was available on a free with his contract up at Ipswich Town.

Swansea looked reasonably well stocked out wide, but will surely be in the market for a new striker should Yates say his farewells.

Oli McBurnie is still available but, as with O'Brien, there have been big question marks all along over whether Swansea could fund a deal for their former centre-forward.

As is the case in various positions, Swansea will need to find answers fairly soon.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Swansea City lost 2-1 away to Mike Flynn's Cheltenham Town in their latest pre-season friendly on Wednesday evening.

The hosts went ahead early in the second half but Swansea levelled when a Cheltenham player conceded an own goal from Josh Tymon's cross.

But the League Two side secured the victory during the final 10 minutes with Lee Angol scoring for the hosts.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Goalkeeper Nathan Broome has left Swansea City to join League One side Bolton Wanderers on a three-year deal.

Broome, 23, moved to the Swansea.com Stadium in 2023 after leaving AFC Wimbledon.

But he departs having failed to make a senior appearance for Swansea, where the likes of Lawrence Vigouroux, Andy Fisher and Carl Rushworth were ahead of him in the pecking order at various points during his time in Wales.

Broome spent the second half of last season on loan at Port Vale.

He was under contract at Swansea until 2026, but leaves after that deal was terminated by mutual consent.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Nathan Tjoe-A-On has returned to the Netherlands, joining Willem II on a two-year deal following his departure from Swansea City.

Swansea announced Tjoe-A-On's departure last month, with the left-back cancelling the remaining year on his contract at the Championship club following a miserable spell in Wales.

The Indonesia international, 23, played only two minutes of league football for Swansea after joining from Dutch side Excelsior for a fee of about £300,000 in the summer of 2023.

Tjoe-A-On will now look to revive his career with Willem II, who were relegated from the Dutch top flight last season.

Image source, Getty Images

Swansea City Under-21s are through to the second round of the Nathaniel MG Cup after a 4-1 victory at Carmarthen Town.

Recent signing Caleb Demery scored twice for Swansea after strikes from Morgan Bates and Ramon Rees-Siso (pictured), with Liam Thomas netting for the home side.

Swansea's youngsters, who will face with either Llantwit Major or Afan Lido away in the next round, have been invited to play in the tournament for a third successive year having reached the final two seasons ago.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Swansea City continued their pre-season preparations with two one-hour games against Stevenage at the Pinatar Arena in Spain.

In the first game, an own goal and a Bobby Wales strike gave Swansea the lead only for Stevenage to salvage a 2-2 draw.

Zan Vipotnik gave the Swans an early lead in the second game, as both sides changed their teams, and his goal proved the difference.

Swansea are next in action in their pre-season programme on Wednesday against Cheltenham Town.

Image source, Getty Images

Iwan Roberts believes Snoop Dogg's investment into Swansea City "can only be a good thing" for the Championship side.

Days after the rapper helped to unveil the club's 2025-26 home shirt, the Swans announced the 53-year-old had become a co-owner and investor.

And former Wales striker Roberts says the multi-platinum selling artist can help to raise the profile of the Swans as they bid to generate more income.

"The difference between him and some of the other famous people who have invested into football, I think he's a big fan of the game," Roberts told BBC Radio Cymru Dros Brecwast.

"From what I understand, he has a relationship with Swansea's owners.

"He has been looking at investing in a club, he likes the Swansea story and how they rose up the divisions. OK they're in the Championship these days.

"A few months ago Luka Modric invested, but you look at the followers these famous people have, they have millions of followers on social media sites. He's got more than 88m on Instagram and more than 20m on X.

"That's going to persuade the people who follow him to maybe support Swansea and bring some new followers through the gates at the Swansea.com Stadium. Maybe he'll do a concert there!"

He added: "LeBron James, he's invested in Liverpool. Tom Brady, he's part of the consortium that bought Birmingham and they secured promotion alongside Wrexham.

"You look at the sponsorship deals people like this can bring into the club, you gave a great example with how things have gone at Wrexham and all of the money they're bringing in after the work Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have done.

"It can only be a good thing for Swansea in my opinion."

It comes during what has already been a busy summer for Swansea - who are preparing for a first full season under the leadership of head coach Alan Sheehan.

They have already made five first-team signings this summer, and Roberts feels the Swansea faithful will be happy with the club's business so far.

"They've brought a few in," added Roberts.

"They've lost a few, Harry Darling has joined Norwich and Joe Allen has retired of course.

"But I'm sure the work the club have done in recent weeks, the fans will be reasonably happy with where they are at the moment and I'm sure there'll be more to come."

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Jerry Yates looks set to leave Swansea City once more this summer but no deal is close yet despite interest in the striker from rival clubs.

Yates is on the radar for a handful of sides with the 28-year-old seemingly surplus to requirements at Swansea after he was left out of their pre-season training camp in Spain.

Yates has been linked with a return to League One Blackpool, the club he left to join Swansea in a deal worth about £3m in 2023, with Seasiders boss Steve Bruce interested in the forward.

But despite mounting speculation about Yates' potential move back to Bloomfield Road, there is little sign yet of any move being finalised.

Swansea are looking for a fee for Yates, though there is an acceptance they will not get anywhere close to recouping the money they paid for him two years ago.

Yates scored nine goals in 46 appearances – only 24 of which were league starts – during his one season playing for Swansea.

He spent 2024-25 on loan with Derby County, where he scored 10 times – and was a first-team regular – to help the Rams avoid relegation to League One.

Yates is under contract at Swansea until 2026, though the Welsh club have the option to extend the deal by a further 12 months.

Like Yates, Josh Ginnelly was omitted from Swansea's Spanish trip having struggled to make an impact after returning from a long-term injury midway through last season.

The 28-year-old winger has also attracted some transfer interest but, as with Yates, no deal is close to being completed.

Image source, FAW

Swansea City Women are in discussions with Lauren Davies (pictured) over the possibility of a new contract, but former Wales international Nia Jones is among seven players leaving the club.

Swansea have revealed their retained list going into the 2025-26 campaign, with 17 members of last season's squad to stay on with the club.

Defender Jones, 33, who is also a Wales netball international, departs Swansea having signed last summer.

Charlie Haynes, Rachel Cullen, Jasmine Guymer, Sophie Brisland-Hancocks and Robyn Pinder have also left the Adran Premier side.

A club statement read: "Swansea City Women wishes all departing players the best in their future careers."

Swansea City Women retained list: Chloe Chivers, Steph Turner, Aimee Deacon, Lucy Finch, Katy Hosford, Stacey John, Sammy Wynne, Madison Murray, Emily Thomas, Jessica Williams, Emily Richards, Taite Trivett, Maisie Miller, Caitlin Williams, Verity Jones, Opal Rayner, Megan Clarke.

Image source, Getty Images

Swansea City youngster Ben Lloyd is currently training with Newport County with a view to securing a season-long loan move away from his boyhood club.

The midfielder recently spent time training with League Two side Cheltenham Town but is now with David Hughes' Exiles at Rodney Parade as Swansea's senior players undergo their pre-season schedule in Spain.

Lloyd, 20, made his senior Swans debut in a 3-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers on 26 December last year and also featured in the final day 3-3 draw with Oxford United.

Kyrell Wilson is currently on trial with Salford City and is also expected to spend the duration of the 2025-26 season out on loan in the English Football League.

The forward is yet to feature for Swansea's first team but made 15 appearances in the National League with Yeovil Town last season.

He was on the scoresheet in Salford's 5-3 pre-season victory over Warrington Rylands on Tuesday night.

Elsewhere, Nathan Broome remains with League One side Bolton Wanderers.

The Trotters are admirers of the goalkeeper and are expected to make a decision on a potential move for the 23-year-old in the coming days.

Image source, Swansea City FC

Swansea City's new home shirt features touches from the shirt the team wore during the 1996-97 season.

That season under player-manager Jan Molby, the former Liverpool, Ajax and Denmark midfielder, Swansea reached the Third Division play-off final, losing to Northampton.

This season's kit features a similar checkered motif to the one from 29 years ago and features prominently on the collar and trim.

Image source, huw

Alan Sheehan's team began their pre-season campaign with a comfortable 5-0 against National League North side Kidderminster Harriers.

In a behind-closed-doors game, Gonçalo Franco scored twice while Ronald, Eom Ji-Sung and new signing Zeidane Inoussa were also on target.

Image source, Getty Images

Swansea City academy product Ben Lloyd is likely to leave the club on loan in 2025-26.

Attacking midfielder Lloyd made his senior debut as a late substitute in the win over Queens Park Rangers last December and also came off the bench as Swansea drew with Oxford United on the final day of last season.

The Swansea hierarchy believe the 20-year-old now needs to head out on loan in order to play regular football in the English Football League.

It is still to be decided where Lloyd will go, though he has had a spell training at Cheltenham Town during pre-season and has also spent time at another unnamed club.

Swansea hope local lad Lloyd, who has long been regarded as one of their brighter prospects, will develop as a player during a loan stint elsewhere.

Fellow academy products Cameron Congreve and Joel Cotterill are both back training with Alan Sheehan's squad, who head to Spain for a pre-season training camp next week, after playing regular senior football while out on loan in 2024-25.

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Swansea City's EFL Cup first-round tie against Crawley Town will be played on Tuesday, 12 August (19:00 BST).

Crawley's visit will be Swansea's first home game of 2025-26, with Alan Sheehan's team travelling to Middlesbrough three days earlier for their opening Championship fixture of the new season.

Swansea's first home league game is against Sheffield United on Saturday, 16 August.

Image source, Huw Evans Agency

Swansea City will begin their 2025-26 Championship campaign in front of the television cameras when they host Middlesbrough on Saturday, 9 August.

Despite being selected to be shown on Sky Sports+, that fixture remains a 15:00 BST kick-off.

However, three further league games selected for tv coverage will all now start earlier at 12:30 BST - the home fixtures against Watford on Saturday, 23 August and Millwall on Saturday, 27 September, plus the game at Birmingham City on Saturday, 20 September.

Further earlier kick-off alterations are the Severnside derby games against Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Saturday, 22 November and at the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday, 21 February.

Both fixtures have been moved to 12:30 GMT starts following safety requests from both clubs.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Swansea City midfielder Darren Pratley, the scorer of one of the most memorable goals in the club's history, has announced his retirement at the age of 40.

Pratley made 199 appearances and scored 31 goals during five years at Swansea, helping the club win the League One title in 2007-08 and then promotion to the Premier League in 2010-11.

Brendan Rodgers' Swansea side climbed into the top flight via the Championship play-offs.

Pratley's finest moment in the Swansea shirt came in the semi-final second leg against Nottingham Forest, when he scored from the halfway line to put an end Forest's hopes and ensure Rodgers' men were going to Wembley.

With his contract up, Pratley opted to leave Swansea for Bolton that summer and went on to play for Wanderers for seven years.

A Fulham product who had loan spells at Brentford before moving to Wales, Pratley moved to Charlton after leaving Bolton in 2018 and has spent the last four years of his career at Leyton Orient.

Pratley, who made more than 700 senior appearances, will now take up a coaching role with Orient's under-21 side.

"I have enjoyed a great playing career – I would love to live it all over again – but having spoken with my family I believe that now is the right time to start the next stage of my career," Pratley told the Orient website.