With the departure of their former captain Ashley Williams, Swansea City are still on the hunt for a new central defender and hope to complete their search before the transfer window closes on August 31st.
The club have drawn up a shortlist of six centre-backs, one of which they hope to sign before the deadline. In his press conference yesterday, Francesco Guidolin said: "We still need another centre-half. I use my experience to work with players chosen by the club, this is my philosophy. But we are working for transfers, we need a central defender."
He added, "I have spoken frequently with the chairman and we have a short-list and we are working on it."
Guidolin says the decision lies in what sort of defender the team want, "We have to decide if we need to sign a defender at the level of Amat and Fede who is ready to play, or a younger player. This is the decision we have to take."
He concluded, "There are five, six, seven players on the short-list, there are players I know better as they play in Serie A but for me it is not a problem. We need another player and I am optimistic."
Rumours of Jason Denayer signing for Swans
Asked about the rumours circulating in the media regarding Manchester City's Belgian defender Jason Denayer being on the Swans radar, Guidolin simply answered "No". From that statement it is obvious that Denayer either isn't the player Guidolin requires or it maybe a matter of finance or even player contract demands.
But Swansea could turn to Italy, with rumours today that Udinese defender Thomas Heurtaux is being linked to the club. Frenchman Heurtaux is 28 and joined Udinese from French Ligue 1 side Caen in 2012. He has made over 90 appearances for the Serie A team, scoring six goals. Francesco Guidolin, of course, was previously Udinese's manager and he would know Hertaux very well, as he was the man in charge when Hertaux first joined Udinese.
Competition in defence
Francesco Guidolin didn't make it clear in yesterday's press conference at the Liberty Stadium, the type of player Swansea City are hoping to recruit and the budget available to him for the transfer. Clearly, Jordi Amat and Federico Fernandez are first choice defensively on the team sheet following Williams' departure. Mike van der Hoorn is the only other centre-half available for Guidolin to select in this position, after Kyle Bartley joined Championship side Leeds United on-loan for the entire season.
Another experienced defender is undoubtedly required, as, in the event of any injury, the team's defensive back-up would be sorely depleted. Francesco Guidolin will hope that Swansea Chairman Huw Jenkins will provide him with the player he requires to complete his current problem at centre-half. But for now, Swansea City will entertain Hull City at the Liberty tomorrow, with just three central defenders to choose from. Hopefully the fourth will arrive very soon.