The January transfer window is fast approaching, and Luke Williams will be looking to strengthen his squad in January to ensure Swansea City stay in touch with the play-off places.
It's been a decent start to the campaign for Swansea, and while they look like they could sustain a top-half finish, perhaps a bit of added quality in January could make all the difference when it comes to breaking into the top six.
There will be certain positions that Williams will likely prioritise should he have money to spend in January, and while Swansea's attack has improved in recent games, reinforcements at that end of the pitch could be needed.
If Williams needs any inspiration when it comes to shrewd January transfer business, he should look no further than January 2009, when Swansea made a short-term loan signing in the form of Nathan Dyer, who would eventually become a club legend in SA1.
Swansea City should look to emulate historic Nathan Dyer deal in January
Nathan Dyer Swansea 2009
Dyer wouldn't have been a household name to Swansea fans back in January 2009, but Roberto Martinez brought him in on loan from fellow Championship side Southampton as he looked to add some pace to Swansea's attack.
It's not a situation too different to the one that the Swans find themselves in now, and with Josh Ginnelly and Jisung Eom out injured, they could well look to add a winger to their ranks in January.
Swansea have been using Myles Peart-Harris and Ronald on the wing, and while both have shown glimpses of their obvious talent, they perhaps haven't always been at their best this season, despite Ronald's recent goal against Derby County.
Dyer wasted no time in becoming a star for Swansea, scoring three goals and registering two assists in his 21 appearances during the 2008/09 campaign, but it was the importance of the goals that made him a fan favourite.
The winger scored as Swansea beat FA Cup holders Portsmouth 2-0 at Fratton Park, a memorable day for the Jack Army, whilst he also scored the opener in a 2-2 draw with Cardiff City at Ninian Park.
This was enough to seal a permanent move to SA1, and over the course of the next decade he'd become a legend in SA1, playing a crucial role in some of the club's greatest days.
He was a mainstay in Brendan Rodgers' side as Swansea won promotion to the Premier League in 2011, registering two assists in the play-off final against Reading, and he regularly tore Championship defences apart.
That continued in his early days in the Premier League, with some even touting Dyer for an England call-up in his prime as he made a seamless transition to the top-flight.
Dyer was one of Swansea's standout players during their first four seasons in the Premier League, but he made a surprise loan switch to fellow top-flight side Leicester City for the 2015/16 season, a campaign which saw the winger return to South Wales the following summer with a Premier League winners' medal.
He came straight back into the fold for the 2016/17 season before suffering a nasty injury which ruled him out for the majority of it, before being a regular in the squad the following year as Swansea were relegated to the Championship.
While injures and age meant that Dyer had lost his pace and trickery, which made him so dangerous during his early years at the club, he continued to play an important role in the Championship as a senior player in what was a hugely inexperienced squad, and he registered three goals and two assists during the 2018/19 campaign.
Steve Cooper took over for the 2019/20 campaign, and while Dyer was used regularly at the beginning of his tenure, he struggled for playing time as the season went on, and he made just one appearance and played 23 minutes of Championship football after Christmas.
|Nathan Dyer's Swansea City career - Transfermarkt|
|Season|Division|P|G|A|
|---|
|2008/09|Championship|21|3|2|
|2009/10|Championship|42|2|5|
|2010/11|Championship|52|2|10|
|2011/12|Premier League|36|6|2|
|2012/13|Premier League|44|6|3|
|2013/14|Premier League|37|6|2|
|2014/15|Premier League|37|5|3|
|2015/16|Premier League|1|0|0|
|2016/17|Premier League|10|0|1|
|2017/18|Premier League|30|3|0|
|2018/19|Championship|24|3|2|
|2019/20|Championship|12|1|2|
Fittingly, his last game for the club came on the 7th March 2020, Swansea's final game in front of fans before the pandemic, and while nobody in the ground would have known it, that was to be Dyer's 347th and final appearance for the club, being released at the end of the season, before announcing his retirement.
Considering Dyer's signing was initially just a short-term loan, he made a huge impact at the club, and that's the sort of signing Williams would love to replicate come January.
Swansea City could do with attacking reinforcements in January
Championship - Swansea City v Leeds United
Swansea have begun to find their feet in front of goal, but their attacking options look threadbare, particularly with Eom and Ginnelly out injured, and they could do with another attack-minded signing in January.
Whether it be on loan or on a permanent basis, a winger could be a useful addition for Swansea as they're still using midfielder Azeem Abdulai on the wing at times, and with Florian Bianchini being preferred at striker, it's clearly a position where they lack depth currently.
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As Martinez showed with the signing of Dyer in 2009, while January is a notoriously difficult month to do business in, it's still possible to bring players in who can become a success.
While signings as good as Dyer are hard to come by, Williams would be a very happy man if he could get anywhere near to emulating a repeat of the winger's move to south Wales in 2009, and if Swansea are in the market for a wide player come January, then Dyer's switch 16 years ago should prove the perfect inspiration.