Swansea close to Franck Tabanou and Ola John captures
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Swansea City, 28/1 chances with Coral to win the Capital One Cup again next term, are reportedly close to freshening up their left-hand side with deals for French full back Franck Tabanou from St-Etienne and Benfica’s Liberian-born Dutch winger Ola John on the table.
Garry Monk lost Wales defender Ben Davies to Spurs last summer and has no natural senior cover for Neil Taylor down that flank, with right-footed trio Kyle Naughton, who missed the end of this season injured, Jazz Richards and Dwight Tiendalli acting as understudies.
Left back Tabanou, 26, helped Les Verts qualify for next term’s Europa League, contributing five assists as Christophe Galtier’s men finished fifth in Ligue 1, but his signature will be in-demand alongside leading marksman and Ivory Coast winger Max Gradel.
The Swans are set to pay a modest fee of £3.5m to take Tabanou to the Liberty Stadium, and will link up with compatriot Bafetimbi Gomis (a former St-Etienne star himself) in south Wales.
Netherlands cap John, 23, meanwhile, was a peripheral figure in Benfica’s Portuguese Primeira Liga title winning side this season, being mainly used by Eagles boss Jorge Jesus as an impact substitute, but still scored three goals and made five asssits.
Among Benfica’s highly-rated youngsters that give them a bright long-term future, he was brought to Lisbon’s Stadium of Light for €12m from Eredivisie outfit FC Twente in the summer of 2012.
John’s brother Collins, a former Fulham frontman, recently told media in their homeland: “It was always a dream of Ola to play in the Premier League. There was interest from other clubs, but Ola has the best feeling in Swansea City.”
Any move for John will leave competition for wide attacking berths cut-throat, as the Swans also have the diminutive Nathan Dyer and injury-prone Marvin Emnes, plus Jefferson Montero, who is going to the Copa America with Ecuador this summer, and Wayne Routledge already on their books.
