How Swansea City could line up with Allen, Darling and Sorinola as piece of jigsaw still missing

Perhaps it was the flurry of activity from their friends down the road, but it wasn't that long ago Swansea City fans were grumbling with frustration at their side's dealings in the transfer market.

However, fast-forward a few weeks, and there seems to be a huge air of positivity around Fairwood at the moment. Russell Martin is in the middle of his first full pre-season with this squad, and there's every hope his side can hit the ground running a little bit more, having perhaps struggled to find their feet at times as he looked to implement his brand of high octane possession-based football.

The sale of Flynn Downes to West Ham United has unquestionably come as a blow in a footballing sense, but it has certainly helped to plug a financial gap, meaning there's now just as much positivity off the pitch as there is on the training field.

Swansea City transfer news as released Swan closing in on move, Cabango update and Piroe talked up

Make no mistake, Martin will have been disappointed to lose Downes given the midfielder's importance to Swansea's engine room last season, but he has been able to bring in a more than capable replacement in Joe Allen, who has completed a sensational homecoming after 10 years away.

Nathan Wood and Harry Darling have come in to strengthen his defensive hand, and the arrival of Matty Sorinola has added to his options out wide.

Playing out from the back has almost become something of a cliche, such is its ubiquitousness in the modern game, and it's similarly at the heart of the foundations of Martin's vision. Indeed, there were occasions last season where fans grew a little impatient at the time the Swans spent knocking it around their own back four, and the recruitment of a ball-playing