Swansea City must switch transfer priority ASAP to fix key issue before Middlesbrough | OneFootball

Swansea City have an injury crisis at centre-back less than two weeks before their first game of the season

Swansea City get their 2025/26 Championship underway in less than two weeks' time when they make the long trip to the Riverside Stadium to face Rob Edwards' Middlesbrough side.

The Swans got their transfer window off to a blistering start, with the likes of Zeidane Inoussa, Cameron Burgess and Ethan Galbraith just some of the players brought in, but it's still clear that Alan Sheehan's squad lacks depth, and they've got a lot of work to do before the transfer window closes.

With Cameron Burgess and Ricardo Santos brought in to bolster the Swans' ranks at centre-back in the summer, adding another central defender to the squad would have initially been low down on Sheehan's list of priorities, but recent injuries to club captain Ben Cabango and Santos leave them desperately short of options at the back.

Swansea City must switch transfer priority ASAP to fix centre-back issue

Going into the summer, it was clear that Swansea would need to sign at least one centre-back, with Burnley loanee Hannes Delcroix returning to his parent club and uncertainty over Harry Darling's future with his contract expiring at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.

Darling's eventual departure left skipper Cabango as Swansea's only first-team centre-back, so Sheehan moved quickly to add Ipswich defender Burgess and Santos, who was a free agent after leaving Bolton, to bolster their ranks at the back.

With promising youngster Filip Lissah also on the books, Swansea looked like they had enough depth at the back, but recent events may just have forced them into a rethink, and has given Sheehan a real headache.

Santos suffered an injury in last week's pre-season defeat to Cheltenham Town, which will rule him out of the early weeks of the season, and Cabango is yet to feature in pre-season after picking up a knock in training, as per BBC Sport.

To make matters worse, Lissah, who would have undoubtedly featured in pre-season if he was available, is currently sidelined with an ankle problem, meaning Burgess is Swansea's only fit central defender.

Signing another central defender would have been way down the list of priorities for Swansea a couple of weeks ago, but it's clear that with the Championship season fast-approaching, they must add another centre-back to their ranks, even if it's only on a short-term basis.

Swansea City should dip into the Premier League loan market

With three senior centre-backs on permanent contracts and highly-rated Lissah coming through, Swansea probably don't need to sign another central defender on a permanent basis, but a short-term loan from a Premier League side could well fill the void.

The Swans have been forced to use midfielder Jay Fulton in defence recently, and while that's okay in pre-season friendlies, it's clear that it's not sustainable, and they need out-and-out central defenders before their trip to Boro.

Swansea haven't had too much luck when it comes to loaning centre-backs in recent years, with the likes of Rhys Williams, Finley Burns and Nelson Abbey all failing to make the desired impact in SA1, but you only have to look at Marc Guehi's time on loan at the club from Chelsea to see that there can be benefits to loaning young defenders.

Someone like James Hill at Bournemouth, or Sunderland's Jenson Seelt, who will be desperate for playing time after injury, could be ideal for Swansea as a stopgap, and it would be a real surprise if they weren't looking to add another central defender to their ranks prior to their trip to the Riverside Stadium.

Swansea are still thin in a number of positions and will need bodies through the door before the transfer window closes, but recent injuries should mean that centre-back is a priority in the coming days.