'Not good news for Swansea' - All you need to know about Coventry City target 'keen' on transfer
Coventry City’s transfer window appears to be heating up with the news that the club are closing in on Swansea skipper Matt Grimes.
According to reports in South Wales the Sky Blues have already had two bids rejected but are expected to pursue their man and are claimed to be “increasingly confident” of getting a deal over he line while the 29-year-old is said to be “keen” on a move to the Midlands.
The central midfielder, who has been with the Swans for the last ten years, has at least two connections to City, having previously played with Joel Latibeaudiere and Jake Bidwell at the Liberty Stadium. Here Swansea reporter Tom Coleman, who covers the club for our sister title WalesOnline, gives an insight to the player and what Coventry fans can expect from the player should the club get their latest January target.
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What are his strengths?
“He’s a very dependable and reliable pro, which is probably the best way of describing him. He’s not the sort of captain who’s going to rant and rave on the pitch or in the dressing room.
“He’s very much a player who has led by example in terms of what he does on the pitch. He was once described as a metronome, which is a very good description of the job he does. What I mean by that is he sets the pace in midfield really, really well and dictates things.
“He’s that important link between turning defence into attack and having played under various managers here, values the art of playing out from the back in their possession heavy game, and he’s fitted in really well to that.”
Other attributes and qualities?
“His other strengths include being very, very good from set-pieces; his delivery is very good and can ping a really good ball into the box. To put it simply, whenever Swansea play well he’s usually the reason for it, not just for what he offers in possession but also he’s pretty good out of possession. He’s not afraid of a tackle but one of the criticisms in that regard has been that he’s often found himself playing a little bit too defensively at times.”
Current role with the Swans
“For large parts of this season under Luke Williams, Swansea have played a back four and in an effort to get his full-backs involved more he has encouraged them to push up, leaving the two centre-backs to hang back and then Grimes very often drops into the centre of that, almost as a makeshift back three. Some believe that has come at the cost of what he offers on the offensive side of his game.
“He does have a very good creative arsenal, an ability to pick out a pass. He has a tremendous work-rate and it will be interesting to see how he will slot in with Coventry and what sort of role he’ll have there, assuming it goes through, of course.”
He wears the No.8 shirt, so is he a box-to-box man doing both sides of the game?
“I would say so, yes. It’s almost the case that his best work is done in between both boxes, which is where he’s at his strongest. Under the current system here, it’s arguably shackled his creativity a bit and Swansea fans would certainly like to see him play in a more advanced role.
“But as a number eight, that’s where he’s played for most of his career and I would back him to play a holding midfield role, if required, and even at centre-back if ever required, so there’s certainly some versatility there in terms of what he offers in the middle of the park.”
Has he had interest in the past?
“There was a bid from Fulham in 2021 and it looked as if he was going to go then, but didn’t. He’s had Premier League interest in the past, linked with Brighton and even Newcastle at one point a few years ago. Certainly there was a feeling four or five years ago that he did have the necessary skill set to play in the Premier League. He’s 29 now and I don’t want to sound unkind, but he may have missed the boat on playing top flight football now.
“You can applaud his loyalty, but that loyalty to Swansea over the last ten years has probably come at the cost of other ambitions for him because I think he probably could have played at a higher level. And in that regard, it’s difficult to begrudge him a move.
“Certainly, it’s not good news for Swansea to lose their captain in the last week of the window, with the caveat that there’s still a bit of work to be done to get the deal done.”
