According to The Sun’s Alan Nixon on his personal Twitter feed (below), relegated Swansea are using the Swedish connections they have through the recently appointed Graham Potter to bring in a strike duo.
42-year-old Potter came to manage the Swans after a successful time in Sweden as boss of Östersunds FK, and according to Nixon it is back to Sweden he returns for centre-forwards Saman Ghoddos and Kerim Mrbati.
Swansea will be looking to regroup after their relegation from the Premier League last season, no doubt aiming for an instant return to top-flight football. In going after Iranian international Ghoddos and Swedish international Mrbati, Potter is going back over familiar territory.
Malmo-born Iranian international Ghoddos, who Potter coached at Östersunds, is one that the Swansea manager will have good knowledge of. He joined Östersunds from Swedish third-tier side Syrianska FC at the start of January 2016 and has scored 36 goals (22 assists) in 87 games for Potter’s former Allsvenskan side.
This season he has hit 10 goals in 27 appearances for Östersunds, with four of these coming in Europe League or Europa League Qualifiers.
24-year-old Mrbati, who has three Sweden caps, currently plays for Djurgarden – moving there from fellow Allsvenskan side IK Sirius. In the current Allsvenskan season he has featured in eight games, scoring twice, but has also added three goals in the Swedish Cup. He’s seen as more of a balanced forward, able to both provide and score goals – he has 18 goals and 16 assists in 74 appearances for Djurgarden.
Interest in this Sweden-based duo are obviously driven by Potter’s knowledge garnered from his time managing in Sweden and he obviously thinks that this pairing are able to adapt to the level of competition that the Championship provides.