Swansea City buck the Premier League trend once more:

Over a third of the way through this January transfer window and only seven Premier League teams can lay claim to having recruited new faces: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Everton, Queens Park Rangers, West Brom and Wolves have each brought in a solitary new player – although “new” is a tenuous epithet when discussing Thierry Henry’s return to Arsenal and Everton re-capturing Landon Donovan.

However, the seventh team – who were yesterday on the verge of completing their fourth swoop – may take some by surprise. But that has been the nature of Swansea City for much of this season. Swans boss Brendan Rodgers has acted quickly, reinforcing his ranks with the loan signing of highly-rated Icelandic midfield architect Gylfi Sigurdsson, permanently securing the much-sought signature of Rory Donnelly as well as, finally, completing the signing of former Manchester United target, Darnel Situ.

In addition to this impressive haul, it was being reported on Tuesday that, along with the apparent cash-plus-player bid placed for Bristol City’s Nicky Maynard, the finishing touches were being put in a place on a deal that would bring Chelsea’s prodigious youngster Josh McEachran to South Wales for the remainder of the season. These signings would surely detract from the fact that NEC Nijmegen’s John Goosens decided against a move to Wales, opting to remain in the Netherlands.

But with the Swans seven points clear of the relegation zone in twelfth place and seemingly looking in-control, does this sudden surge in activity smack of rookie “buying for the sake of it” or is the astute Rodgers simply making the most of being able to spend, thus firmly planting himself as the envy of other managers?

Considering the balance and determination of Swansea’s performances this season, as well as acknowledging the former Watford and Reading manager’s intelligent persona, the latter would appear most likely. Huw Jenkins, the shadowy media-shy chairman at the Liberty Stadium, has placed a lot of faith in his manager, namely when he duly stumped up the coffers to allow Rodgers to complete last summer’s signings of Leroy Lita, Danny Graham and Michel Vorm. The fact they cost a combined fee of over £6.5 million – a considerable amount for a team making their first foray into England’s top flight – appears a bargain when considering their performances, particularly those of Vorm.

These spate of recent signings are exactly in-line with the spirit that Rodgers has instilled at Swansea: young, exciting, hungry individuals who are determined to carry on their ascent but in a manner which suits them. For example, the transfer of Donnelly may have been completed last week had it not been for late bids from Liverpool and Everton. Understandably he had to weigh up his options and so, whilst he may yet end move on if he continues his prolific goal-scoring, he must have seen something quite special when he chose Wales over Merseyside.

It has been well documented that Rodgers was one of José Mourinho’s understudies when ‘The Great One’ was in charge at Stamford Bridge. Whether it is from the Portuguese coach that the man from Northern Ireland learnt the importance of utilising connections is unclear, but the fact that Rodgers honed the skills of a then-14-year-old McEachran at Chelsea – as well as surveying the progression of Sigurdsson when the two were at the Madejski Stadium – would have given him a clear advantage over his Premier League rivals who also enquired about the youngster’s availability.

Furthermore, the situation with Situ adds to his new boss’s ever-growing credibility, as the 19-year-old has actually been training with the Swans since August, patiently waiting for Fifa to rubber-stamp his deal.

Whilst fans should not be disheartened by the lack of activity elsewhere in the Premier League, it would appear that Swansea, and Brendan Rodgers, are leading the way in the art of conducting business in a canny manner.

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