Paul Clement believes Sam Clucas will offer Swansea City versatility after the midfielder completes his move from Hull City on Wednesday, but the manager is still keen to bring in more signings before the transfer window closes.
The deal for Clucas will cost the Swans £16.5m with add-ons and is the first turnaround on the £45m they received from Everton for the sale of Gylfi Sigurdsson.
“He is a good footballer and that is what we want here,” Clement said after Tuesday’s 4-1 win over MK Dons in the Carabao Cup.
“The fact he can play in so many positions reinforces that he is a good footballer.
“He has experience, he has played at the Premier League level and playing in English football, I also like his story and his background.
“He has had to fight to where he has got to, the route he has come; lower-levels, the Glenn Hoddle Academy, establishing himself at Hull and I think he is going to be a strong addition for us.
“This is the first one (signing) in the latter parts of the window and hopefully we can do a couple more.”
Swansea return to Premier League action on Saturday when they travel to Crystal Palace.
They are likely to be without defender Kyle Bartley who was taken off on a stretcher after falling awkwardly towards the end of the game – with the former Arsenal youngster set for a spell on the sidelines.
“He has come down awkwardly on his knee,” added Clement.
“We thought it could be a bad one at the start but it might not be as bad as we thought but I think he is going to have some time out but it is difficult to say at this point.”
Clement named a strong side for the trip to Stadium MK and saw Leroy Fer head home a brace to cancel out Ryan Seager’s opener for the hosts.
Tammy Abraham then tucked home his first Swans goal before Jordan Ayew wrapped up the 4-1 win with a well-taken solo effort.
The Premier League side showed just four changes from their defeat to Manchester United on Saturday as many other clubs made wholesale alterations in their respective ties.
But for Clement, who had not seen his side score this season until this evening, the Carabao Cup offers a chance of success – as the Swans proved by lifting the trophy in 2013.
“It is not only about getting the win, it is about developing confidence in the group,” he said. “We are still working on integrating players and giving them match-time so I wanted to go strong, we want to do well in this competition this year.
“I thought we made hard work of it, we had enough control of the game and the threat we caused, we should have put it to bed in the first half.
“We got back into the game but I wasn’t particularly happy at half-time and I let the players know that – they need to be more clinical, more ruthless and that is good practice to have in the Premier League where you don’t have as many chances.”