Swansea City have trio of simple calls to make beyond Joe Allen decision | OneFootball

Swansea City should have some easy decisions to make on their out of contract players this summer

As we approach the final months of the 2024/25 season, a number of Swansea City players will be all too aware that their time at the club is coming to an end.

Swansea have a sizeable contingent of players who are out of contract at the end of the campaign, and while question marks linger over the future of a couple of them, the writing is on the wall for some of the club's older players who have barely featured this season.

The summer provides the Swans with the perfect opportunity to bring down the average age of their squad and trim their wage bill quite considerably to allow them to recruit younger players ahead of next season, and regardless of the managerial situation, there are a number of simple contract calls the club must make.

Swansea City need to cut ties with a number of older players in the summer

A quick look at the Swansea players who are out of contract in the summer shows that there are a number of simple decisions they can make to bring down the wage bill and squad profile.

The likes of Kristian Pedersen, Jon McLaughlin, Cyrus Christie and Joe Allen are all out of contract, and with their ages ranging from 30 to 37, it's clear their best days are behind them.

Pedersen and McLaughlin haven't played a single Championship game this season, while Allen and Christie have played just 697 minutes between them as per Transfermarkt, an incredibly poor return which shows how badly Swansea have spent their money.

The four aforementioned players have played a combined total of 697 minutes of Championship football between them this season but are earning a combined total of just over £50,000 a week per Capology, a situation that surely raises alarm bells amongst the club's hierarchy.

Getting these players off the wage bill in the summer is so important for Swansea, and that sort of money being freed up will be a huge boost to whoever is manager come the opening of the transfer window.

Swansea don't have the financial muscle that some of their Championship rivals do, so getting high-earners who don't play off the wage bill will be a relief to Andy Coleman and the club's other owners, and it gives them the chance to reinvest in players who'd provide far better value for money.

It shouldn't be any wonder why Swansea are closer to the relegation zone than the play-offs when they're using their limited resources on expensive players who don't feature, and a change in transfer strategy is desperately needed this summer.

Swansea City must be ruthless this summer with player exits

While exits for Pedersen, McLaughlin and Christie look likely, it remains to be seen what Swansea do with Allen, who sees the one-year extension he signed last summer expire at the end of the campaign.

If Allen wasn't a Swansea legend, and he was just another 34-year-old Championship midfielder who they'd signed from Stoke in the summer of 2022, then he almost certainly would have been released last summer, and you feel like the club may have to make a tough decision at the end of the season.

The midfielder hasn't played often enough to justify a new deal, and his injury record in recent seasons means it would be a risk to give him a new deal, particularly at his age.

Interim boss Alan Sheehan revealed that Allen was helping with the coaching staff when ruled out with a recent injury, and you feel a transition into coaching would solve a real headache for the Swans' hierarchy, who probably know that the 34-year-old hasn't done enough for a new deal.

Swansea aren't in a position where they can give players new deals purely for nostalgic reasons, and you felt as if the one-year deal Allen signed this season was a final chance to show what he was capable of, but it's not worked out.

The summer transfer window is set to be hugely important for Swansea as they head into a new era, and offloading older players who have barely featured should help to get them off to a good start and free up some much-needed cash.