Liberty door will have to start revolving soon

DAVID Cotterill will become the 30th Swansea City player to turn out in the Championship this season if he makes his debut at Newcastle United this weekend.

That is quite a tally for one club to use across a whole season, never mind in a campaign's first four months.

And yet there are another nine names on the Liberty playing staff who are yet to feature in the second tier this term.

Paulo Sousa's squad looks a little heavy on numbers right now — and he knows it.

The Swansea manager, after all, declared back in July that he wanted to operate with a squad of "24 or 25" players, all of whom were genuine contenders for first-team duty.

Cotterill's arrival takes the number of players on the payroll to 39, although a handful are already out on loan.

And it should be noted that Swansea's squad includes a batch of players who are not senior professionals and therefore do not count fully when numbers are totted up.

Kieran Howard, Daniel Sheehan, Scott Evans, James Burgin, Jamie Grimes and Radanfah Abu Bakr all fall into that category.

So, too, do Kerry Morgan, Casey Thomas, Jazz Richards and Chad Bond, even though all four tasted life in the first XI when injuries ripped through Sousa's squad in the early weeks of the season.

These players were placed in a development group by Roberto Martinez, who argues British clubs are too quick to dispose of potential pros when they are only 17 or 18.

Sousa appears to agree to some extent, although he would probably like more of them to leave on loan.

At present Morgan is thriving at Newport County, while Howard is at Neath and Grimes at Haverfordwest.

For the rest, the only chance to impress is in the reserves, which is not an ideal way to progress.

But Sousa's desire to trim down his squad is not only about shifting his young players.

The Portuguese also wants to cull some more senior figures as he looks to strengthen for a potential play-off push.

Cotterill's arrival is a statement from Swansea, who are competing in the transfer market like almost never before.

But they cannot keep adding players without saving money elsewhere.

There is no room for manoeuvre in the goalkeeping department, where the only back-up to Dorus de Vries is provided by teenager David Cornell.

Swansea are not exactly overwhelmed with options at the back either, hence the links with Zak Whitbread continue.

If the Millwall centre-back arrives in January, someone like Albert Serran may consider his options.

Matty Collins is struggling for an opportunity at present, while Sousa revealed earlier in the autumn that a loan move for Marcos Painter had been discussed.

A proven performer at Championship level, the former Birmingham left-back may benefit from a spell away if first-team football is guaranteed.

With Shaun MacDonald already on loan at Yeovil, candidates for a move do not exactly leap out from midfield.

Jordi Lopez has not made a great impact as yet in Wales, but Sousa would seem unlikely to part with one of his own signings.

Kristian O'Leary has been out on loan already this season, to Leyton Orient, but the Swansea stalwart returned early because of injury and is not yet fully fit.

With Cotterill in, some would suggest Swansea could dispense with a wide player.

But even now there are only five wingers at the Liberty — one of whom, Mark Gower, has done stints in central midfield — and all have been heavily involved this season.

Five widemen is not that many when Swansea play a system which is so reliant on what Nathan Dyer and the rest bring.

Perhaps centre-forward is an area where Sousa will look to make changes.

Lee Trundle has made it quite clear he wants to stay on when his loan spell runs out in January, but the Scouser probably needs to make a mark over the next six weeks for that to happen.

Besian Idrizaj may benefit from a spell on loan, while Guillem Bauza waits to see what part he will play when he recovers from knee surgery.

Asked this week whether players would be leaving any time soon, Sousa said yes before joking that nobody is keen to leave Swansea right now.

But if Sousa wants to keep adding big-money recruits like Cotterill, the chairman is likely to insist that he also takes some away.

gareth.vincent@swwmedia.co.uk