Swansea boss Garry Monk continued to restructure his first-team squad last week with the acquisiton of winger Jefferson Montero from Mexican side Morelia. The 24-year-old rolls up to the Liberty on a four-year contract and is the sixth new face so far, following the arrival of Lukasz Fabianski, Bafetimbi Gomis, Marvin Emnes, Stephen Kingsley and Gylfi Sigurdsson.
In an interview with the club’s official website, Monk was quick to emphasise that the speedy Ecuadorian will add new weaponry to the Swans’ attack for the campaign ahead:
“We have watched Jefferson in depth and a lot of work went on behind the scenes to make the deal happen. He has a lot of quality and with the attributes he has he adds another dimension to our game. The ideal situation for me is that I have different types of players in the same position because in a game I may need to use a different approach. Jefferson certainly offers us something different, and I’m really happy he is here.”
The History
Montero progressed through the youth ranks at Emelec before making his senior debut in 2007. Two goals and 22 appearances later, he was on his way to Independiente in Ecuador’s Second Division and, after a brief loan stint with Dorados (five matches, one goal) he proceeded to net 19 times in 37 matches for his parent club.
Signed by Spanish outfit Villarreal as a 20-year-old, Montero spent his first year with the club’s B side, where 10 goals in 32 appearances led to his promotion to the senior squad in time for the 2010/11 campaign. His time in La Liga was far from successful, though. Farmed out on loan to Levante (11 appearances) and Real Betis (a goal and three assists from 33 matches), he subsequently turned out on 20 occasions for Villarreal, delivering a couple of goals and three assists, before he was sold to Morelia in June 2012.
Over a couple of seasons with the Mexican club, Montero’s output was fairly modest. The wide man chipped in with 14 goals and 12 assists in 65 appearances across all competitions before Monk made his move last week. On the international scene, Montero has already been capped 43 times by Ecuador and found the net on eight occasions.
The Prospects
The Ecuadorian’s arrival puts real question marks over the pitch time of Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge out wide, as Monk looks to put his own stamp on the Swansea first-team in his first full season at the helm.
Handed a permanent deal after steering the club to safety last term, the former centre-half introduced a slightly more direct approach than predecessor Michael Laudrup and resultantly saw his side notch 1.8 goals per game over his 14 league fixtures in charge, compared to 1.2 under the Dane’s guidance.
Whilst Montero’s blistering pace certainly fits in with Monk’s approach, the return of fellow midfielder Sigurdsson to the club should ensure the Ecuador international remains off Fantasy radars ahead of the season kick-off. As mentioned in the recent Sigurdsson Moving Target article, the playmaker averaged 5.7 FPL points per game during his first spell with the Welsh outfit and has immediately found his form – bagging a brace in his second debut, he’s also been handed dead-ball duties and, coming in at 6.0 in Fantasy Premier League (the same price as Montero) has the potential to be a real bargain.
It should be noted that Montero has also impressed in pre-season, shining in the recent 2-0 win at Exeter, with Monk again underlining his pace as a key factor…
“I think Jefferson showed glimpses in that opening 45 minutes at Exeter of what he can do. He’s great…Pace always hurts teams. Anyone who’s quick and has got half a brain about them can cause people problems. Jefferson’s got very good pace and quality about him as well. And for a player who’s so young, he’s got experience as well. The World Cup’s been a great experience for him. If he can bring the momentum he’s got from that into the Premier League it’ll be great.”
Such comments suggest that Montero will immediately be central to Monk’s plans for the new campaign, cementing him as a differential ahead of a kind opening schedule for the Swans. Currently owned by just 0.3% of FPL managers, the winger welcomes Burnley, West Brom, Stoke and Newcastle to the Liberty in the first seven Gameweeks and also faces a trip to Sunderland during that period. While there is clear early promise, Montero will need to excel over a consistent period if he is to oust Sigurdsson as the major source of Fantasy points in Swansea’s midfield.
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