As per reports by Wales Online, Swansea City have placed AS Roma’s striker, Seydou Doumbia, on their radar and are plotting a move for him in the summer.
After the appointment of Carlos Carvalhal, the Swans have had quite a turnaround. They were pretty average and bereft of ideas and motivation in the first half of the season but Carvalhal has managed to resurrect the Welsh outfit outfit and currently, the side are 14th in the league with 31 points from 30 games.
Survival looks like a gettable target for them considering their recent form late but the need to add more reinforcements to the team come summer is imperative. Swansea have always emphasised on entertaining football and though a little bit of pragmatism is always good, they still need a few attacking sigings in the summer. However, Doumbia might not be the player they need.
Doumbia rose to prominence during both his first spell with CSKA Moscow as he scored goals regularly, which prompted AS Roma to sign him in the January transfer window of 2015. He couldn’t find his feet in the Serie A and thus has been regularly shipped out on loan. During the 2015-16 season, he moved to Newcastle United on loan but turned out to be a massive flop as he barely made a few appearances.
Speaking of his attributes, the Ivory Coast international does possess a lot of experience under his belt and has the physicality to make his presence felt in the final third. He might not be the flashiest of players but he plays to his strengths.
He is currently out on loan with Portuguese outfit, Sporting CP, but has been used sporadically. Although he hasn’t been anything superb in the ongoing campaign he did make an impact while he was out on loan with Basel last season.
Given his torrid spell in the Premier League with Newcastle United, Carvalhal will be taking a big risk if he signs the 30-year-old. Swansea need to ensiure they sign someone who has the ability to score at least 10 to 15 goals in a season and Doumbia simply isn’t the player who possesses the quality to do that.
The club haven’t really found a replacement for Fernando Llorente who can give them a different dimension and perhaps need to consider someone else over Doumbia who is well past his peak.