Swansea City

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Matt Grimes says Coventry City's "ambition" was what convinced him to leave Swansea City for the Sky Blues.

Grimes made his Coventry debut as a 62nd-minute substitute as Frank Lampard's team were beaten 2-0 by Leeds on Tuesday.

The midfielder joined Coventry last week having made it clear to Swansea that he wanted to move on after a decade at the Welsh club.

Swansea have indicated they could not compete with the financial package on offer to Grimes at the CBS Arena.

But when asked by the BBC's Sky Blues Fancast why he had made the move, Grimes said: "The ambition of the club to be honest. That's what I was sold on.

"Obviously I was at Swansea for 10 years, a very long time.

"I had conversations with Dean [Austin, Coventry's head of recruitment], the manager and the chairman. They really sold the project to me and it's something I felt like I had to be part with."

Coventry had won four successive league games before losing to Championship leaders Leeds.

Defeat leaves Lampard's side 11th in the table, three points outside the play-off places.

Grimes said it was "very early to say" what his new club could achieve.

"I have been in the building only a matter of days," he added.

"But I am excited to be part of this project and the club is really ambitious, so we'll see what happens.

"The lads are brilliant, the manager's top, so I am really looking forward to seeing what the future holds."

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

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Alan Tate has given Lewis O'Brien a glowing reference following his move to Swansea City – but says the midfielder will be nothing like Matt Grimes.

Swansea signed O'Brien on loan from Nottingham Forest in the one piece of good news for the Championship club on an otherwise dispiriting transfer deadline day.

The Swans moved for O'Brien having sold Grimes to Coventry City last week.

And while Tate says the two players have contrasting qualities, the Swansea legend expects O'Brien to thrive at his former club.

"Signing Lewis is a good bit of business," said Tate, who was assistant boss to Steve Cooper at Forest when O'Brien moved to the City Ground in 2022.

"He brings enthusiasm and dynamism with the legs he has in midfield. He gets stuck in, he will make passes and he will make forward runs.

"He also a great lad, one of the best you will ever meet. He has the cheeky chappy sense of humour, but he trains properly and will play anywhere you want him to play. I think the Swans fans will take to him."

Swansea pushed hard to get the O'Brien deal over the line having seen Grimes depart after a decade at the club.

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The former Huddersfield Town player, who was on loan at Los Angeles FC earlier this season, is expected to make his Swansea debut in Sunday's game at Bristol City.

Swansea hope O'Brien's experience and proven Championship pedigree will hope them cope with the loss of Grimes, who was arguably Luke Williams' most influential player.

But Tate (pictured above with Cooper) says O'Brien will offer something different to the Swansea midfield, adding: "The only way he is like Grimesy is that he is left-footed. They are not like for like players in any way really, in terms of how they play.

"Grimes is more of a controller. Lewis is an all-action midfielder who wants to get up and down the pitch.

"He wants to get forward and score goals but he will also do really well on the defensive side."

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Cameron Congreve is making a case to be given a chance to prove himself at Swansea City during a positive loan spell with Bromley.

The 21-year-old scored twice in Bromley's 3-3 League Two draw at Salford City on Tuesday night, with the club describing Congreve as "our Welsh wizard" on social media.

No wonder, perhaps, given that Congreve has found the target four times in his last six games.

In all, the Wales Under-21 international has scored five times in 31 games for Bromley, who are 16th in the fourth tier following last season's promotion from the National League.

That represents a big step forward for Swansea academy product Congreve, who failed to feature in the first team in 2023-24 having made 18 appearances under Russell Martin across the previous two campaigns.

Congreve's Swansea contract expires at the end of this season, though the deal includes an option for a 12-month extension.

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Former Swansea City midfielder Owain Tudur Jones has described the club's January transfer window activity as "depressing".

Loan deals for Hannes Delcroix from Burnley and midfielder Lewis O'Brien from Nottingham Forest were completed as captain Matt Grimes left for Coventry.

Swansea's squad, already thin on options, is two players lighter in terms of numbers after the close of the window and that is a situation which concerns Jones.

"I always think that if you sign a player on deadline day there's a sense of panic," Jones told BBC Radio Cymru podcast, Y Coridor Ansicrwydd.

"Swansea City are a club that needed to bring in players in a bit of a panic.

"You we're hoping, by doing that, they would be lucky in bringing in good players.

"What we've seen this last week is Delcroix coming in as a centre-half and he only came in because Harry Darling is suspended for three games.

"O'Brien only came in because Grimes had left. You wonder if Darling had not been sent off and Grimes had not left, then perhaps they would not have brought anyone in and that's depressing."

As well as Grimes, Swansea allowed Azeem Abdulai to join Leyton Orient and sent Andy Fisher on loan to St Johnstone.

But the Championship club failed in their attempts to sign another central midfield player, an attacking midfielder and a wide player.

"I saw a quote from a Swansea reporter – 'Even by their own standards this January window was, however you look at it, a total disaster'," Jones added.

"Perhaps that says it all and that's the feeling around the club."

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Lewis O'Brien believes he can bring the "fight" Luke Williams is calling for after joining Swansea City on loan from Nottingham Forest.

The Swans were determined to bolster their midfield options after selling former captain Matt Grimes to Championship rivals Coventry City in the final week of the winter transfer window.

And O'Brien - who has had loan spells with DC United, Middlesbrough and Los Angeles since joining Forest from Huddersfield Town in 2022 - feels he is ready to be thrust straight into action in the second tier.

"I am really excited to be here. It was a chance for me to come back to the Championship," said O'Brien.

"I spoke with the gaffer and he outlined the way the team plays and also spoke about wanting a player who is ready to fight.

"I have played in a number of different competitions and leagues, and I feel I have taken a bit from all those experiences. I hope the fans will be able to see that when I start playing.

"It's a tough league so you need that fight and aggression to be able to compete.

"I feel like my energy levels are a big part of my game, I can play 90 minutes at the same level of intensity and I think that helps, especially in the latter stages of games.

"I also think I bring composure on the ball, my ability read the play in defensive moments can be good attribute to have too."

O'Brien is no stranger to the Swansea.com Stadium having previously played at the home of his new club with Huddersfield.

"I have some memories of playing against Swansea," added the 26-year-old.

"I can remember one game against Swansea in particular where we were 2-0 down in no time at all, but the one that stands out would be that game where I scored for Huddersfield.

"I do know what a hostile atmosphere it can be here, the fans really get behind the team and I cannot wait to play in front of them.

"I hope this can be a positive time for myself and for the club. I hope I can push Swansea into a good position in the league. Like I say, I cannot wait to get going."

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Ian Walsh branded elements of Swansea City's showing against Coventry City as "abysmal" in addition to questioning the club's "amateur" recruitment.

The Swans have endured a torrid 2025 so far, losing six of their seven matches in all competitions, the latest of which was a 2-0 defeat by Coventry City at the Swansea.com Stadium.

Without former captain Matt Grimes - who joined the Sky Blues on Friday - in their ranks, Luke Williams' men once again looked bereft of ideas as they suffered a first league defeat to Coventry since 1981.

"The team looked abysmal at the end," former Wales and Swansea striker Walsh said on BBC Radio Wales.

"The worrying thing for me is that if you're so reliant on somebody like Grimes in the way that you're playing and he's not playing, can you imagine if he was out injured for six weeks, how the whole structure would have to change.

"There's not enough players, the manager hasn't had enough help with recruitment. I say recruitment, there is no recruitment. And who is recruiting?

"That's another question we'd love to ask the football club, but they won't come up and answer us.

"At the end there, it looked like a bunch of 11 individuals just thrown on the field without a clue of what they're trying to achieve."

Swansea remain eager to bolster their squad before Monday's 23:00 GMT transfer deadline.

They have brought in defender Hannes Delcroix on loan from Burnley this month.

They also struck a deal to sign Melker Widell from AaB Aalborg, although the versatile midfielder will remain with the Swedish side on loan for the rest of the season before linking up with Swansea in the summer.

With Swansea's squad lacking depth and quality in certain areas, Walsh questioned the club's recruitment, adding that the Swans could find themselves in a relegation battle if results don't improve soon.

"I don't think that the manager Luke Williams has a clue who is coming in and going out of this football club," added Walsh.

"It's so amateur behind the scenes here.

"If it carries on like this, you're talking about Swansea fighting off relegation, another three or four results like this, they could be right bang in it."

Ged Scott
BBC Sport England

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Coventry City boss Frank Lampard said his strikers Ellis Simms and Brandon Thomas-Asante had every right to feel happy - and opposite number Luke Williams called them the "difference between the two teams" - as the Sky Blues eased to a 2-0 victory at Swansea.

Following a fourth straight league win, due to first-half goals from Simms and a Thomas-Asante stunner, Coventry are 11th, only three points shy of the play-offs, heading into Wednesday's home date with Championship leaders Leeds United.

"We're on a good run," Lampard told BBC CWR. "But I'm not getting too carried away because I know things can flip very quickly in football and we play the best team in the league on Wednesday night.

"They were two really good goals. The second was fantastic. It was instinctive. Probably nobody else in the stadium thought he'd take it on. But the quality of his technique and execution made it very special. He deserves to have a big smile on his face.

"Eight or 10 games ago we weren't winning headers up front or holding up the ball, but you can now see the difference. It has to continue and it can get even better. They have to be a threat when they play together up front."

Summer signing Thomas-Asante, reportedly a target for other Championship clubs in this window, might not have been playing at all but for the ankle injury that has kept out top scorer Haji Wright since early November. The US international is yet to figure under Lampard, but is back in training and getting close to a return.

Williams admitted: "The Coventry front two caused us a lot of problems. They were the big difference between the two teams. We weren't able to cope with them."

While Swansea fans booed their side off both at half-time and at the final whistle, most of the Welsh anger was aimed at their board for selling skipper Matt Grimes to Coventry on Friday.

Grimes sat the game out - not needed by his new club - but he was certainly missed by his old club. "It's very difficult to be the same type of team without Matt Grimes," added Williams. "But the best side won."

Coventry's first win in South Wales since beating Cardiff 1-0 in October 2022 was described by Lampard, who made his league debut for Swansea almost 30 years ago when on loan from West Ham United, as "a very complete performance".

"Everything about the performance, on and off the ball, was good. Defensively we were spot on. All the things you want to win away from home we did."

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Luke Williams believes Swansea City must strengthen their squad before Monday's transfer deadline in order to "help" his ailing side turn their dreadful form around.

Swansea suffered a fourth successive Championship defeat as they went down 2-0 against Coventry City on Saturday.

Williams' men have now taken only one point from the last 18 on offer, scoring three goals and conceding 17 along the way.

Swansea's worst run of the season – which also featured an FA Cup exit at Southampton – has seen outside play-off hopes replaced by relegation concerns.

The club's hierarchy have indicated they are in the market for as many four potential signings before the transfer window closes at 23:00 GMT on Monday.

Williams says his current crop of players need the lift which new recruits can bring.

"We could do with some help," he said.

"It doesn't make it easier to attract a player when we keep losing games, but we have to do everything we can to try to find some players to help us.

"What would be ideal is for the starting line-up to be better [after signings are made], and I think honestly [we need] to relieve the burden on some of the players.

"They look to me like it's a tough season for them and they are feeling the bite."

Williams says he is confident Swansea will "get a second wind" after their painful slump over the last five weeks.

The club have been attempting to recruit a wide player and up to three midfielders, but Williams says he is uncertain on what progress is being made.

"I think there are names that are on a list," he added.

"We are trying to attract players here but I can't say anything else because it's disrespectful to talk about a player until we are at that point [where they sign]. I am hoping we can get some players to help us."

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Chairman Andy Coleman says Swansea City will hold a fans' forum following the conclusion of the winter transfer window.

The market closes at 23:00 GMT on Monday, 3 February, with the Swans still eager to bolster their squad.

Luke Williams' men announced the capture of versatile midfielder Melker Widell shortly after confirming former captain Matt Grimes' move to Championship rivals Coventry City on Friday.

Sweden Under-21 international Widell - who will not join up with Swansea until next season - is the Swans' second signing of the window following Hannes Delcroix from Burnley.

Addressing the club's transfer dealings so far, Coleman said in his programme notes ahead of Saturday's league fixture with Coventry: "The departure of Matt Grimes is obviously a significant change given he had been with the club for a decade but, as Luke himself said earlier this week, we can either view these situations as opportunities or threats, and the only approach we can take is to look at it as an opportunity.

"We are working around the clock to strengthen our men's first-team squad and make the right decisions for the club.

"I am aware that, at the moment, that is a work in progress, but I remain optimistic about the future, and what is going on behind the scenes as we look to make additions before the transfer window closes."

There has been growing unrest among Swansea supporters given the club's struggles in the transfer window in addition to poor results on the field of late.

Williams' side are yet to win in 2025 and have suffered wretched defeats against the likes of Southampton, Cardiff City and Norwich City since the turn of the year.

That has led to many fans calling for the club to be held to account and to explain key decisions made since a change of ownership was announced in November.

Coleman added: "I am also aware of the concerns that have been raised about improving our communication with supporters.

"We are committed to improving our connection with you, I believe in being as transparent as we can be with you, and clearly laying out our plans to take the club forward.

"We are planning to hold a fans' forum once the transfer window closes to address your concerns and share our vision. Please do join us for that, and we will be able to update you on a number of areas."

Swansea sit 17th in the Championship ahead of Saturday's meeting contest with Frank Lampard's Coventry.

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Luke Williams has challenged Swansea City to "fill the void" left by Matt Grimes when they take on Coventry City on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Williams goes into a game without Grimes in his squad for the first time since taking charge at Swansea almost 13 months ago after the midfielder's departure for Coventry.

Grimes, who had been Swansea's captain since 2019, has played in all but four of the club's league games since relegation from the top flight seven years ago.

But with Ben Cabango now wearing the armband, Williams says his squad must quickly get used to life without Grimes' reliable presence in midfield.

"Tough moments are opportunities or they are threats," the Swansea head coach said.

"Certain people in life see moments as threats and react like a victim. Other people see opportunities and react like a warrior, where this a moment to do something good.

"We need the warriors to step up now and fill the void."

Swansea are hunting midfield reinforcements ahead of Monday night's transfer deadline, with the club known to be looking at the Premier League loan market.

They are also believed to have shown interest in Peterborough United captain Hector Kyprianou and are understood to have at least one more target in League One.

As far as the Coventry game is concerned, Jay Fulton looks the most likely option to replace Grimes - who will not feature for Coventry because his move was not completed before the registration deadline - given that Joe Allen missed last weekend's defeat at Norwich City through injury.

Ollie Cooper has returned to training having been out since October thanks to a stress fracture in his foot, though Williams has suggested he needs some time to build his fitness.

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

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Swansea City are one of a number of Championship clubs interested in a loan move for Southampton winger Sam Amo-Ameyaw, who is believed to have watched Luke Williams' team in action at Norwich City last weekend.

Swansea were keen on a loan deal for Amo-Ameyaw last summer but he ended up staying with the Saints.

But there are suggestions the 18-year-old will be allowed to move before Monday's transfer deadline - and Swansea are in the mix for his signature.

Cardiff City are among the other clubs being linked with a move for Amo-Ameyaw, who scored his only senior goal in Southampton's League Cup win against the Bluebirds last August.

England Under-19 international Amo-Ameyaw has made only four Southampton appearances this season having played seven times under then boss Russell Martin last term.

Swansea head coach Luke Williams has been trying to sign a wide player throughout the January window.