John Swift business ‘a good deal for West Brom promotion hopes’

The Baggies badly lacked creativity in the middle of the park last season. But in Swift they have landed a player who should go a long way to fixing that problem, with the 26-year-old having shone for Reading over the past few years.

We spoke to Jonathan Low, Royals reporter for Berkshire Live, to get the inside track on the Baggies’ first addition of the summer.

What type of player is Swift?

He is an attacking midfielder. He can operate slightly deeper and spray passes from deep central midfield but primarily he is about getting in and around the box and making those defence splitting passes and creating chances. He has done that by the bucket load over the last couple of seasons.

He always wanted to be on the ball, he’s very skilful and he’s got the intelligence to find players in space and really make an impact.

What are his strengths?

His strengths are his awareness and positional play. He’s very good at finding pockets of space and playing clever passes.

His set-pieces can be hit and miss. He scored some stunning free-kicks in his time at Reading. But he was also guilty of sending too many straight into the wall.

He has a real drive and determination about him, though, and he always wants to get on the ball.

He is also a good bloke and was a very popular player while at Reading.

What are his weaknesses?

He has been part of a side that has been accused of being mentally fragile over the past few years.

But that said, whenever Reading were struggling, Swift was always the player you looked to make something happen.

He isn’t the quickest. But the only real concern with him is his injury record.

He has quite fragile hamstrings and if one of them pops that could then be him out for a few months. He is trying to change and improve his fitness regime, though, so he picks up less injuries. I also think he’s changed his diet as well.

Swift has previously been linked with a move to the Premier League, were you surprised to see Albion get him?

I was a bit surprised to see him move to Albion and not the Premier League, yes.

He has produced his best form over the past 12 months. He scored 11 goals and got 13 assists last season. But in terms of chances created, he was miles ahead of everyone else.

I thought someone like Bournemouth or Fulham or a lower-half Premier League side would have taken a chance on him.

He’d definitely be worth a punt for those sides. And he came close to joining Sheffield United a few years ago when they were in the Premier League.

He definitely wants to be a Premier League player.

And he must believe he has a good chance of doing that with West Brom.