Exclusive: Stoke City and Derby County hold talks with departing West Brom star
Departing West Bromwich Albion midfielder John Swift has attracted interest from four Championship clubs and has already met with two managers, Birmingham World can reveal.
Swift, who officially sees his contract end today at the time of publication (June 30), will depart West Brom after three years. The former Reading man didn’t have the best 2024/25 season by any means but he’s still got the experience and technical ability to make a difference at this level and has attracted widespread interest as a result.
The 30-year-old was linked with Portsmouth briefly as Swift was keen to make a move nearer to his family but our sister publication, The News, has confirmed Pompey will not be pursuing the midfielder. Despite Swift being willing to significantly decrease his wage demands, Pompey believe they can sign an alternative playmaker for a lower salary.
That doesn’t leave Swift without any options, however, and far from it as Birmingham World understands four Championship teams have expressed an interest and there are several sides from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United States keeping close tabs.
Stoke and Derby enter John Swift talks
It’s understood Stoke City and Derby County are among those interested in signing Swift and have held initial talks. According to a source close to the player, Swift has already had meetings with the managers of two of the four Championship teams sniffing around.
It’s tough to know exactly which head coaches he’s spoken to, though, as the identities of the other two English second-tier clubs have been kept under wraps. Given it’s a 50-50 situation, it’s likely Swift has spoken to at least one of Stoke’s Mark Robins or Derby’s John Eustace. Possibly both.
Both clubs stayed up by the skin of their teeth last season as the Potters finished in 18th and two points above the relegation zone, while Derby were 19th and survived the drop by just one point. It certainly wasn’t pretty but retaining Championship status was the main goal and now they can push to improve.
Adding a player of Swift’s calibre could really help take Stoke and Derby to the next level. The midfielder may not have made his mark at West Brom last campaign but he was superb in his first two seasons at The Hawthorns as he scored 15 goals and provided 10 assists in 82 Championship appearances.
Before that, when he was at Reading, Swift enjoyed the best season of his career as he scored 11 and assisted 13 in 37 Championship matches throughout 2021/22. The former England Under-21 international was of course in his prime back then, but he’s only just turned 30 and still has plenty left to give.
Swift not the only Albion player leaving
Although a great deal of experience is being lost, there was a feeling that all three players had gone beyond their expiry dates at West Brom. There were glimpses of quality every now and then but the substantial wages Swift, Ajayi and Diangana were on simply weren’t worth it anymore.
The mission now for new head coach Ryan Mason is to build a strong core to this squad. Albion’s transfer budget certainly isn’t endless but it’s expected plenty more business will be done following the acquisition of Liverpool defender Nat Phillips. May the hard work commence.
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