Latest injury shows Swansea City must make head over heart call next summer | OneFootball

Joe Allen has suffered yet another injury and Swansea City must make a brave call next summer

Swansea City supporters rejoiced in the summer of 2022 when it was announced that Joe Allen would return to the club following his Stoke City exit after a decade away from south Wales.

Allen came through Swansea's academy before breaking into the first-team during the 2007/08 season, going on to play an important role as the club won promotion to the Premier League in 2011, impressing in his first season in the Premier League, leading to a big move to Liverpool in 2012.

While Allen may have left Swansea, he remained a favourite amongst supporters, and news of his return in 2022 made the Jack Army very happy.

However, his second spell at the club hasn't quite gone to plan thanks to injuries, and news of yet another injury setback will be of huge frustration to everyone at the club, and begs the question of whether Swansea should part ways with the 34-year-old in the summer.

Latest Joe Allen injury shows that Swansea should make head over heart call

Allen has had constant injury problems since returning to Swansea in the summer of 2022, and he's not been able to string a regular run of starts together, a huge frustration to supporters who were delighted by his return.

Out of the 114 Championship games Swansea have played since Allen's return, he's started just 27 of them, showing just how much he's struggled for starts and with his contract up at the end of the season, it means that he's got it all to do to earn a fresh deal.

The 34-year-old missed the opening games of the current campaign through injury, and he'd managed to remain fit for a couple of months, usually being used as a substitute, before Luke Williams revealed recently that the veteran midfielder would be out of action over the festive period due to a leg injury.

Another bone of contention for Swansea supporters will be the fact that Allen, who had initially retired from international football in 2022, has come out of retirement to play for Wales following Craig Bellamy's appointment, a strange move when you consider his age and injury record in recent seasons.

Of course, Allen is a quality player when fit and no one can stop him from playing for his country, but given his injuries, surely being fit enough to string a run of games together for Swansea should come before thinking about a return to the international stage.

The former Liverpool man signed a two-year deal with the Swans in the summer of 2022 which meant his time at the club was set to come to an end last summer, but he penned a new one-year deal, despite only making six starts last season.

There's no getting away from the fact that had this been any other player in his mid-30's then a new deal surely wouldn't have been offered, but Allen's status as a Swansea legend ensured he was kept on.

If current injuries persist, Swansea can't make the same mistake as they did last summer, and the club must use their heads over their hearts when it comes to deciding whether to extend Allen's stay at the club.

The 2024/25 season is pivotal for Joe Allen

It's not too late for Allen to find form and earn a new contract at the Swansea.com Stadium, but the decision should come down to his fitness and performances, not for nostalgia reasons.

On his day, Allen is certainly still an excellent player at Championship level and Wales boss Bellamy was desperately keen to get him out of international retirement because he knows he can still perform at the required level, but he's running out of time to make his second spell at the club a success.

Just like Aaron Ramsey up the M4 at Cardiff, Allen's return brought huge fanfare and excitement, but injuries have meant that neither move has proved as successful as the clubs would have liked.

Admittedly, Allen has played more often for Swansea than Ramsey has at Cardiff, but the 2022 move which promised so much just hasn't paid off yet.

If Allen can put a run of starts together, then there's no reason why he shouldn't be given a new deal, but if his current injury woes persist between now and the end of the season, meaning he barely features, Swansea should make the tough decision to allow the midfielder to leave at the end of the current campaign and use his wages on a younger player.