Swansea City must rue missing out on £10m Southampton transfer chance | OneFootball

Swansea City missed the chance to sell Nathan Wood for £10million and had to settle for £7million less instead this summer

Nathan Wood has started to impress in the Premier League for a struggling Southampton side after his summer move from Swansea City, becoming a regular starter in the top-flight after a tough start to life at St Mary's.

Wood departed for a fee of £3million with his contract set to expire at the end of the 2024/25 season, leaving the Swans with no option but to cash in to ensure they didn't lose him on a free with the chances of the defender signing a contract extension slim.

While Ben Cabango and Harry Darling have thrived at centre-back meaning that Swansea haven't missed Wood, his recent performances in the Premier League for the Saints have seen him praised as a bargain signing, and Swansea will rue their decision to not sell him in the summer of 2023 when his stock was at its highest.

Swansea City will rue their £10million 2023 Nathan Wood call

Swansea signed Wood for just £400,000 from Middlesbrough in the summer of 2022, and after just one season in SA1 the youngster attracted interest from elsewhere.

The likes of Arsenal and Tottenham were tentatively linked with the centre-back before Southampton, who had just been relegated from the Premier League, came in with a number of bids for Wood.

Russell Martin had just left the Swans for the Saints, and he was desperately keen to bring Wood to the South Coast with him, reportedly offering a fee of £10million to sign him.

It was huge money that would have seen the Swans make a massive profit, but it was turned down, a decision that the club undoubtedly regret now.

Swansea sold Joel Piroe in the summer of 2023 to Leeds United, so perhaps didn't need another big sale to fund their transfer business, but Wood's downturn in form during the 2023/24 season meant he got nowhere near replicating the form he'd shown during the previous campaign.

It left Swansea in a difficult position, and with Wood's contract set to expire in the summer of 2024, they triggered a 12-month extension to ensure he didn't leave on a free, with the player seemingly keen to depart.

While it meant that he didn't leave on a free, Swansea could only sell him for £3million this summer, £7million less than they could have 12 months earlier, an incredibly bit of bad business in hindsight.

Wood wasn't the same player last season after Martin had departed, so it wasn't as if Swansea got the best out of him after turning down £10million, and the hierarchy will rue not cashing in on the defender when his stock was at its highest.

Nathan Wood is starting to find form in the Premier League

Swansea were forced to sell him for just £3million with his contract set to expire in 2025, but his recent performances in the Premier League mean that the fee now looks like a bargain.

The 22-year-old wasn't involved in the Saints' first 13 games, but in recent weeks he's broken in to the team and shown why Martin was so keen to sign him.

Martin may have departed, but Southampton are set to reap the rewards of his signing for the years to come after he penned a four-year deal at St Mary's.

Wood drew praise after being part of a Southampton defence that kept a clean sheet away to Fulham, and Swansea supporters watching would have been frustrated seeing him play so well when he left for such a small fee.

Southampton look very likely to be relegated, so it wouldn't be a surprise if Wood attracted interest from other Premier League clubs next summer, and if they were to sell him, then you can guarantee it would be for a bigger fee than what they paid for him.

The whole Wood saga will be hugely frustrating to Swansea supporters, and you can't help but feel that all parties would have benefited had they accepted the Saints £10million offer back in the summer of 2023.