A weakened Swansea City begins the new Championship season in Hull. Given the quality of the selection, Swansea does not seem likely to have a chance of promotion. Hull City, on the other hand, has retained most of its strengths and will hope to find a place in the left-hand row with a new trainer.
Swansea City:
The Dutch contribution to Swansea City has been considerably reduced in the current transfer period. Leroy Fer and Luciano Narsingh both left free of transfer and left for Feyenoord. Where Narsingh had little to virtually no chances last season, Fer – if fit – was the first captain of The Swans. Wilfried Bony, former player of Vitesse, also left the club from Wales. Nevertheless, with Erwin Mulder, Kristoffer Nordfeldt, Bersant Celina and Mike van der Hoorn, there are still plenty of old acquaintances to be found at the Liberty Stadium.
They will be dealing with Steve Cooper as the new head coach. It is the first job in the professional football of Cooper, although the 39-year-old former defender already has experience as a coach of England U17. He has to do this season, among other things, without Daniel James who left for Manchester United. The super-fast left winger, good for four goals and nine assists in the Championship last season, left for Old Trafford for € 17 million.
Hull City:
Unlike Swansea City, Hull City has seen few changes in the current selection. The biggest loss so far is the departure of the Brazilian Evandro to Santos. However, there is still a chance that Jarrod Bowen will also leave Hull. The 22-year-old right winger is without a doubt the biggest star of The Tigers. Last season, Bowen hit no less than 22 times the goal for the team where he has been around since 2014. Newcastle United seemed to be interested, but recently abandoned that interest. Opposite the outgoing transfers is the attraction of Tom Eaves, Ryan Tafazolli and Matt Ingram. All came over to KC Stadium in a transfer-free manner.
In addition to Bowen, captain Markus Henriksen and Kamil Grosicki are the eye-catchers at The Tigers. Grosicki already seemed to be leaving Hull last year, but is still under contract a year later and will undoubtedly be of great value to Hull City again this season.
Because Nigel Adkins decided not to extend his contract with Hull, Grant McCann is down the line at Jordy de Wijs’s club this season. The Northern Irishman, who was active in West Ham United in his active football career, was previously responsible for Doncaster Rovers and Peterborough United.
