Swansea City submit offer for 21-year-old in bid to solve problem position | OneFootball

Swansea City have invested smartly this summer and have backed new head coach Michael Duff in the transfer market - but one key issue remains within his starting 11.

A mix of loanees and permanent arrivals have come in through the door at the Swansea.com Stadium, with Harrison Ashby, Carl Rushworth, Josh Ginnelly, Jerry Yates, Josh Key and Mykola Kuharevich all adding to Duff's squad.

And they got off to a satisfactory start on the opening day of the 2023-24 season when they welcomed Birmingham City to South Wales - they fell behind to a Siriki Dembele goal in the first half but Yates scored on his competitive debut for the Swans in the second half to make sure there was a share of the spoils.

You get the impression that more is needed though before the transfer window closes on September 1 for Swansea, and a position in the form of left wing-back remains where the club have struggled to sort out so far.

The loss of Ryan Manning on a free transfer to Southampton was a tough one to take as he scored five times and assisted a further 10 goals last season, and so far a direct replacement has not arrived for Duff.

Summer arrival Key, who joined from Exeter City and is a right wing-back by trade, had to fill in on the left and by all accounts did pretty well, but the need for a natural left-footer out there is an important one.

And after being linked with SC Cambuur's Alex Bangura in the past week by Sky Sports, it does appear that Swansea have their eyes on the Netherlands for a left wing-back - but not the Sierra Leone international.

Instead, it looks as though the target is Excelsior's Nathan Tjoe-A-On, who Voetbal International claim Swansea have made an offer for.

The 21-year-old is also wanted by clubs in the second tier of German football and it's unknown how much Swansea have offered, but the youngster appears to be well and truly on Swansea's radar.

Who is Nathan Tjoe-A-On?

Tjoe-A-On has been at Excelsior since he was at teenager and he turned professional in 2019 with them.

He had to wait until the 2020-21 season to make his senior debut for Excelsior, which came in a second tier league match against FC Eindhoven in October 2020, but injuries later that season and in the following one meant that it is only in the most recent 2022-23 campaign that Tjoe-A-On became a first-team regular.

Featuring 29 times in the Eredivisie - the top tier of Dutch football - Tjoe-A-On scored once and assisted once and played usually in a back four, meaning if he signed with Swansea it would be a system change to what he is used to.

His performances early on last season saw Tjoe-A-On named the Young Player of the Month for the whole of the Eredivisie, and he continued with his solid showings throughout the campaign, playing a big part in Excelsior avoiding relegation.

How long does Nathan Tjoe-A-On have left on his Excelsior contract?

Tjoe-A-On has just one year remaining on his contract with Excelsior, meaning that he can be picked up on a free next summer.