Swansea City have secured the signature of Jack Cork, which is good news for Garry Monk having initially tried to sign him during the summer.
The 25-year-old had been at Southampton since July 2011, when he ended a 13-year association with Chelsea in pursuit of regular first team football. Whilst at Stamford Bridge the midfielder couldn’t force his way into the starting XI, and failed to make a single league appearance during his time in the capital which also incorporated a number of loan moves to gain experience.
At St Mary’s he played every game of their 2011-12 campaign in which they finished second in the Championship to earn promotion to the Premier League, and he featured heavily in each of their first two seasons back in the top-flight. This time round, though, he has found life a little more difficult, and Ronald Koeman has only selected him to start five league matches.
The Saints coach has instead preferred the midfield trio of Morgan Schneiderlin, Victor Wanyama and Steve Davis, and this is a recipe which has served them well. It has also worked in the favour of Monk, who has been able to add Cork to his squad at Swansea for a fee in the region of £3million, and the Liberty Stadium boss has revealed he sign him ahead of the current season.
“I pushed a little bit for him to come in the summer, but it didn’t happen because he was committed to Southampton and going forward with them,” he said. “But when the opportunity came up again in this window, we were happy to have the chance to bring him in. I was surprised a little bit he was available. He wanted to come here and we have showed the same enthusiasm to sign him.”
Cork, who made a total of 128 matches for Southampton in all competitions, could make his debut for the Swans on Sunday afternoon when, ironically, they travel to the South Coast to take on the Saints.
