Florian Bianchini seems to be the man !
Thursday, 22nd Aug 2024 16:02 by Liam Walters & Keith Haynes

Florian Bianchini, currently a SC Bastia player and before that Amiens SC & LB Châteauroux is reported as being in Swansea to conclude his medical. This after the Swans have agreed an undisclosed fee for the midfield attacker this week.

At twenty three he is young enough to learn the specifics of the way the Swans set up and play, and to be indoctrinated in to the way head coach Luke Williams demands from his players. He is a utility player as much as he can play across the midfield, on either wing as an advanced option, and as a centre forward. He will prefer the right side of the pitch but to have someone with that ability is an asset.

He joined his current club on a free transfer, but there will have to be payments made by Swansea City. The big question is his playing level at this moment in time. He hasn’t played outside of Ligue 2 in France which by any standard is lower than the Championship. We are told that the player first became of interest to the Swans in March when he was turning in man of the match performances for his club, SC Bastia. And not just one off ratings, some serious stats between March and the end of May. Once again the statical analysis programme which is the baby of Brett Cravatt who stated when he joined the board of directors in July 2023. "I am fully committed to using my knowledge to improve the club in multiple capacities with an emphasis, given my background, on data science and analytics as well as marketing and sponsorships."

That system which Brett has implemented has most certainly been very useful in monitoring and gathering information on the outfield players the club are interested in. Once he signs, and that could see him included in Sundays game if registration is completed by midday tomorrow. Luke Williams has stated this today.

⚽️ That’s below.

There won’t be an urgency to do so, and at best Florian can hope for is a bench place. However, he has completed a pre season and one game for SC Bastia which he didn’t play in full last time out. Around 5’11” in height he is described as having great agility but his game weaknesses are possession and control. That will have to become second nature in a Swansea team. He has a decent assist record and had numerous chances last season to add to his six goals.

And so it goes, a new signing is pretty much confirmed bar the ruthless medicals players have to go through, and that’s happening today, and there’s news of another player in on loan as well. This possibly rules out Ruben Providence and Noel Milleskog after both players have been linked. Providence became an impossibility at the time of writing due to clearance and his club becoming difficult in negotiations. Milleskog, we are also told was a player of interest but it didn’t go much further than that. There was contact though. If it’s possible to go beyond the four player maximum for Championship clubs when recruiting from outside these shores - it could resurface.

But it’s a long shot.