Swansea City hope to push through a £1.5m deal to bring Middlesbrough’s former Wales defender Rhys Williams to the Liberty Stadium as Michael Laudrup’s injury crisis worsened.
Jonjo Shelvey became the latest name to be ruled out of action after limping out of the 3-1 defeat to Tottenham with a hamstring problem that is expected to keep him out for at least two weeks.
He joins Jose Canas and Jonathan de Guzman in the midfield absent list leaving Leon Britton as the only fit central midfielder at the club while others including Nathan Dyer, Pablo Hernandez, Michel Vorm and Michu remain sidelined.
Williams had been a previous target for the club having been identified by the club’s recruitment set-up and it appears there is a confidence at Swansea that they will be able to reach an agreement over a move for the 25-year-old.
Williams has been at Boro since breaking through as a teenager, swapping nationalities when he quit Wales after Under 21 and senior squad representation to play for his native Australia.
He can operate both in defence and in midfield and while Laudrup would not comment on the proposed move last night, it is thought Swansea were keen to press ahead after initial interest was thought to be rebuffed and Scottish giants Celtic monitored the situation.
Swansea are still keen on adding further options despite Laudrup’s refusal to expand on transfer hopes, the Dane stressing the side’s current loss of form would not be solved by splashing the cash in the remaining two weeks of the window.
Laudrup said: “The club is working on things but I don’t know what stage things are at. (Rhys Williams) is one more name to add to the rumours. of a player who can play different positions. He is someone who can play different positions but I don’t it’s much use me talking about players not here because the most important are the ones here.
“Just getting a player is not the only solution. Things will only change for our team when we win a game or two out of three. That would give the boost that we need.”
Written by Steve Milne
