Franck Tabanou has joined Granada on loan for the rest of the season.

The full-back has been massively out of favour since arriving at Swansea City last summer, making just three appearances last year - all of which came in cup competitions.

Tabanou was then shipped out on loan in January back to the club that he signed from; Saint-Étienne. There he got a few more minutes under his belt, making eight starts in a total of 11 appearances for the French outfit.

However, he remains nowhere near the first team picture at the Liberty Stadium, meaning a deadline day loan was essential for him in order to play senior football this season.

Full-backs spots chock-a-block

Tabanou, naturally a left-back, finds himself well down the pecking order in South Wales.

Neil Taylor has been Swansea's starter in the role for so many years, and recently Stephen Kingsley has come out of the Academy, impressed on loan, and returned to challenge the Welshman for his spot in the starting XI.

Tabanou then finds himself third choice in his preferred position - and the same if he was to swap over to right-back, where Angel Rangel and Kyle Naughton are ahead of him.

A rare glimpse of Franck Tabanou in Swansea white. (Photo: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
A rare glimpse of Franck Tabanou in Swansea white. (Photo: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)

Disappointing spell for a player with potential

Midway through the 2015-16 season, Alan Curtis described a side of Tabanou that Swansea fans had yet to, and still haven't, seen.

Speaking before a clash with Oxford United in the cup that the Frenchman would feature in, the then interim manager explained that he had been watching videos of the full-back in action for Saint-Étienne.

"He is going past people," Curtis said, "beating two or three players and smashing it in from 30 yards." 

The coach continued to big up Tabanou's potential, saying that he could play "further on" and, based on the clips, "he could be anything."

However, the full-back didn't come out of his shell against Oxford, or in any of his other Swansea performances. 

Instead, he would depart in January on a sour note - with a few bad words said about his parent club as he walked out of the door.

Upon joining Saint-Étienne on loan, Tabanou expressed his displeasure as, despite "the club being in a terrible situation," they didn't give him a "chance" in the team.

"I do not understand," he added. "I think, if I had stayed, my situation wouldn't have changed. They never let me play."

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About the author
Ameé Ruszkai
Head of the Sunderland, Swansea City and women football sections at VAVEL UK. Email: [email protected]