Swansea City welcomes Harrison Ashby on season-long loan from Newcastle United

Swansea City has secured a season-long loan for Newcastle United’s Harrison Ashby.

The 21-year-old defender, a Scottish underage international, has joined the Swans for the 2023-24 season and is expected to make his debut in the Championship opener against Birmingham City on Saturday, once his international clearance comes through.

This move marks the sixth signing of the summer transfer window for Swansea City, who have already welcomed Josh Ginnelly, Josh Key, Jerry Yates, Carl Rushworth, and Mykola Kuharevich to their ranks.

Ashby, who started his career at Chelsea’s youth ranks before a 12-year stint at West Ham, will sport the number 30 jersey for the Swans.

During his time at West Ham, he made his senior debut against Charlton in the Carabao Cup in September 2020.

Further appearances included a Premier League debut against Arsenal and a Europa League game against Dinamo Zagreb.

He moved to Newcastle United in January 2023. Michael Duff, the Swans head coach, revealed the positive character reference he received about Ashby from Kieran Trippier.

“Harrison is a good player. I know Newcastle have spent a lot of money, but Dan Ashworth (Newcastle sporting director) does not sign bad players,” Duff stated.

He further added, “I also know Kieran Trippier really well. He was really positive in terms of the character reference he gave me.”

“I was keen to get it done for Harrison to join me at my last club. We think he is a really good player and a powerful player. First and foremost he is a good defender, but one who can also get in the final third and deliver good crosses too. He wants to get out there, and play lots of games.”

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The new season is upon us, but Joel Piroe’s future remains one of the key talking points at Swansea City.

The curtain for the new Championship campaign hasn’t yet been raised, but the Dutchman has still provided the inspiration for many a column inch this summer.

Leeds United, Leicester City, Southampton and Atalanta have expressed interest in signing the former PSV Eindhoven product in recent weeks. And yet, despite everything, he remains a Swansea player.

In an unexpected twist, as exclusively revealed by WalesOnline earlier in the week, it seems there’s a real chance things could well stay that way.

At this stage, the indications suggest Piroe is expected to remain a Swansea player come September 1, an incredible state of affairs given the finances potentially involved.

The 24-year-old is currently focused on the new campaign with Swansea, having enjoyed a reasonably fruitful pre-season, and is highly likely to face Birmingham City in the opening game of the Championship on Saturday.

Piroe himself doesn’t seem to be trying to force a move. On the contrary, he’s believed to be more than happy to see out his current deal with the Swans, and hopefully enhance his reputation with another strong season.

Having netted over 40 goals in two seasons in the Championship, his stock is clearly already high, and he has already shown glimpses of his talents during the summer schedule, netting an impressive brace at Reading in the club’s final pre-season encounter.

Interest was always inevitable given his record and his contract situation, with the forward poised to become a free agent next summer.

As things stand, there isn’t a formal bid on the table from anyone at this stage, with the player and his camp currently operating on the basis that he will be a Swansea player for the foreseeable future.

Why is a sale off the table at the moment?

Valuation is certainly part of it, but the main barrier is the unhappiness in Piroe’s camp at the way Swansea want to structure a potential sale.

A move away from SA1 has clearly been mooted as a possibility for some time. So much so, that talks were held with former chief Julian Winter back in January over what sort of deal could be done, and what it would entail for all parties involved. It’s understood both sides reached an agreement on how a sale would proceed should a club meet Swansea’s valuation, and the terms around such a deal.

It’s not entirely clear what those terms were, but reading between the lines, it appears agent fees and other such considerations were likely parts of the conversation.

With Swansea’s new hierarchy in place, and with Winter departing, the club have since decided to go in another direction.

That decision hasn’t gone down well with Piroe’s representatives, and the suggestion at this stage is they will not agree to a move away unless Swansea change their current stance on how to structure things.

Reports in Italy on Friday suggested Piroe could yet renew terms, but insiders have since claimed those suggestions are wide of the mark.

Should Piroe still be here come the end of the summer window, there’s every chance the club will look to offer fresh terms in the winter, although we’re told the chances of an agreement being reached are near zero.

If Swansea want to cash in, they may not want to allow this to drag on until the winter anyway, with Piroe permitted to sign a pre-contract agreement with interested parties from abroad come January. That remains a real possibility with Serie A giants Atalanta closely monitoring developments.

There is perhaps a faint possibility that promotion could change his mind. But that’s a hypothetical that isn’t really being entertained by anyone at this stage.

However, the club and the player’s representatives will need to sit back round the table for there to be any sort of breakthrough. There’s nothing to suggest there are any plans for such talks at this stage, although clearly there’s plenty of time for the landscape to change.

But even then, there’s no guarantee that the ‘right club’ would come in for the striker. Certainly there’s a feeling the player won’t move simply for the sake of moving.

That then brings the question of valuation into play. The higher the valuation, the more the possibilities potentially dry up. It’s a difficult balancing act for all involved.

Swansea could still accept an offer regardless of the stance of Piroe’s camp, of course. But without the latter’s say so, it’s difficult to see how a deal can be forced through.

Staying, for this summer at least, subsequently appears the most likely outcome right now, although in reality, the exit door is probably still slightly ajar, especially with nearly a month of the window remaining.

Should Swansea show a willingness to come back to the table, they will more than likely be listened to, but they will have to work hard to change steer the situation towards a sale.

It may well come down to just how desperate they are to cash in on what is arguably the best striker in the division right now.