Swansea City transfer news as former target set for…

Swansea City transfer news as former target set for Sheffield United loan and fringe players get chance

Your Swansea City headlines for Wednesday, August 3.

Blades close in on McAtee

Sheffield United are closing in on a loan deal for Manchester City's James McAtee.

The highly-rated English youngster has attracted heaps of transfer interest and was wanted by Swansea in January. However, he remained at the Etihad Stadium for the remainder of the 2021/22 campaign and put pen to paper on a new long-term contract with Pep Guardiola's side.

But he is now set to join the Blades on a season-long loan deal from Man City.

LIVE UPDATES: Swansea City transfer news and updates

Fringe men feature in Cherries defeat

Several fringe first-team players were given the chance to impress for Swansea's Under-21s in a training match against Bournemouth's young guns on Wednesday afternoon.

Kyle Joseph, Ollie Cooper and Dan Williams were among those who featured in the contest at Landore, although it was a tough afternoon as they were beaten 3-0 by the Cherries' youth side.

Nathan Moira-Welsh netted twice in the opening 45 for the visitors before Ben Greenwood capped off a comfortable success for Bournemouth with a header after the restart. Josh Thomas missed a penalty late on after Ben Lloyd was fouled in the box in what was a frustrating afternoon in front of goal for the Swans.

Sanches on the move

Renato Sanches is closing in on a move to Paris Saint-Germain.

The Portuguese joined Swansea on loan from Bayern Munich during the 2017/18 season, but injuries and poor form ensured he endured a torrid stint in south Wales. Sanches featured just 15 times in all competitions for the Swans and played for the duration of a match on just five occasions.

But the Euro 2016 winner has gone from strength-to-strength since his ill-fated stint under Paul Clement and Carlos Carvalhal. He is now poised to join French powerhouses PSG from Lille for a fee in the region of €15m, according to reports.

Naughton praised by defensive duo

Nathan Wood and Harry Darling lavished praise on defensive partner Kyle Naughton following the opening day draw with Rotherham.

Naughton was flanked by the two summer signings in Swansea's back three against the Millers on Saturday and played a pivotal role as the Swans controlled large portions of the contest. And Wood hailed the 33-year-old as one of the best players he's seen.

“Naughts is so good to play with,” he told the club website. “Him, Grimesy [Matt Grimes] and Jay [Fulton], they’ve got such cool heads and when you play with people like that it just calms you down.

“If you need calming down, you can just look to your left or right and you’ve got big players like them. Naughts is funny in training and he’s one of the best players I’ve ever seen."

Fresh from scoring on his Swans debut in stunning fashion, Darling was in total agreement with fellow summer arrival Wood when assessing Naughton's capabilities. “Having Naughts behind us is great. He’s just a calm head and looks like he’s never going to give the ball away,” he said.

“He’s brilliant. He’s been there and done it all in football. He’s had such a good career. Playing with him can only help me and Woody.”

Ladies' league fixtures confirmed

Swansea City Ladies kick-start the defence of their Genero Adran Premier title against Cardiff Met.

The Swans clinched their third successive league trophy last term. And Jon Beale’s side begin the new campaign at home against the university side on September 4.

Swansea round off phase one of the campaign at Aberystwyth Town on January 29. The full schedule is available below:

Phase one schedule

Swansea City v Cardiff Met, Sunday, September 4

Abergavenny v Swansea City, Sunday, September 11

Swansea City v Barry Town United, Sunday, September 18

Cardiff City v Swansea City, Sunday, September 25

Swansea City v Pontypridd United, Sunday, October 2

The New Saints v Swansea City, Sunday, October 16

Swansea City v Aberystwyth Town, Sunday, October 23

Cardiff Met v Swansea City, Sunday, November 6

Swansea City v Abergavenny, Sunday, November 13

Barry Town United v Swansea City, Sunday, November 27