"One of the worst" - Strong Jerry Yates view given after £2.5m Swansea City deal | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Jerry Yates hasn't been able to recreate his form of last season since signing with Swansea City, and it could be time for him to move on.

Despite his underwhelming time in South Wales, so far, Yates is their second top scorer in the league with seven goals.

The forward was bought for around £2.5 million from Blackpool last summer, as per the BBC, and, for that sort of money, he hasn't been able to deliver what was expected of him.

He scored 15 goals in the 2022/23 campaign for the Tangerines, which wasn't enough to help them stave off relegation to League One.

Since Luke Williams came in to replace Michael Duff, the 27-year-old's minutes have been hit badly. Yates has struggled to find a system in Williams' intricate system, and his reputation among fans is starting to go down quicker and quicker.

Swansea City fan pundit gives Jerry Yates assessment

Football League World'sSwansea fan pundit, James Millar, believes that it may be time for the summer signing to move on, but he added that he'd be willing to see if a pre-season with the new-ish boss would help him fit in at the club.

"Yeah, I think the Yates signing has been one of the most underwhelming of recent times, and one of the worst of the season after a positive stint at Blackpool," said Millar. "He looked to be quite a tidy signing. He started okay, got a few goals in his first few games, but it's really dried up for him and he seems to have completely fallen out of favour with the manager.

"I know Michael Duff was the one that brought him in, but he just never really seemed to get going. I think it's our style of play, but I'm not sure. There are countless times when he has just 10 or 12 touches a game, which, for a striker, is really poor.

"It can't just be him. There must be no cohesion with his teammates. But I don't understand how he can only have a small amount of touches per match.

"It will be a sticky one in the summer. Can he adapt to the way we want to play? Can he get involved more? It's been a really poor season for us, and a lot of fans have lost their patience with him. Sometimes these things just don't work out.

"There's obviously a player there, whether he can rekindle any kind of form with us is another question. I would be interested to see him after a pre-season with Luke Williams, to see whether he can adapt to our style.

"But £2.5 million, with our financial discrepancies, and for this division, is quite a lot of money for a striker that isn't giving you that return.

"If he doesn't start, then I could see us chasing in and trying to recuperate some of that money and spending that money elsewhere, potentially on another striker."

Jerry Yates isn't a typical Luke Williams striker

The 27-year-old spent a lot of time with Blackpool out on the wings, with Gary Madine being the main centre forward. Williams' history as a coach shows that playing in this way is not how he wants his forwards to be.

He wants his full-backs to be getting high up the pitch and being in positions to either create chances or finish them off. If Yates is out occupying these spaces already, then it makes it much harder for the full-backs in the 42-year-old's system to be effective.

Macauley Langstaff, a player who the Swans may look to sign in the summer, worked really well under Williams at Notts County because he was a penalty box number nine.

The 27-year-old has found the back of the net as many times in League Two this season as years he's been alive. That's the sort of forward that the Swansea boss will want, and Yates's skillset doesn't make him the most adpet at doing that job.