'Silly' to say Swans could compete at 'very peak' of table

Luke Williams believes it would be “silly” to suggest Swansea City can challenge “at the very peak” of the Championship this season.

Swansea are 16th in the early-season table having won one and lost two of their first four league games in 2024-25.

Head coach Williams says the Welsh club are monitoring the free agent market as they consider strengthening the squad outside the transfer window.

But after a summer in which Swansea have focused on signing players with potential rather than proven Championship pedigree, Williams accepts that consistency may be an issue.

“Are there going to be some ups and downs this season? I am pretty sure there are,” he said.

“I don’t think at the moment we are in a place where we have got an obvious group to challenge at the very peak of the Championship. I think that would be a silly thing for me to say.

“But have we got a group that I think can have a really good season? Yes. And can we potentially keep the core of that group together and they become a really good Championship team in the future? Yeah I think we could.”

Williams led Swansea to 14th in the Championship last season after taking charge in January.

There were some encouraging signs at the end of what was a traumatic campaign, but Swansea are readjusting after another hectic summer in which 13 senior players – plus youngsters like Cameron Congreve, Joel Cotterill and Josh Thomas – departed and only eight new faces arrived.

While the likes of Goncalo Franco and Eom Ji-Sung have shown signs of their potential, Williams says Swansea’s signings “need some time because not too many have the experience of the Championship and of Britain”.

“It looks to me that we have a group of young players for the future that we can try to grow together,” he added.

“I think in the short amount of time we have been playing this season, we have shown we can be excellent and we have shown we can probably be overwhelmed at times.

“I don’t think there’s been a game where we have been poor from start to finish, where you come away and there are no positives.

“It’s been a mixed bag for sure. Now we have to look at the positives and see if we can have a really good season and maybe get to the end of the season feeling positive with a group of players who are going to grow together, and not have to rip it up and start again. I think that would be something everybody would be happy for.”

Williams had been keen to sign another pacy wide player before the transfer window closed a fortnight ago, but Swansea’s only deadline-day recruit was Myles Peart-Harris, a powerful attacking midfielder.

It could be that Swansea look to sign a free agent – as they did when Yannick Bolasie joined last season – with Williams suggesting there are some “very good players” available.

"We have that option and it is something that's been discussed,” he said.

"When I came here we had Yannick Bolasie, who was one of the most incredible players I've ever worked with - an incredible guy and what a footballer. He was on a short-term contract and those sorts of things are possible.”

Swansea will look to make it three home league games unbeaten at the start of the new season when they host Norwich City on Saturday (15:00 BST).