Joel Piroe has turned into the superstar Swansea City never expected as he proves the doubters wrong

Google's search function took a pasting as Swansea City fans frantically looked up the man who had just emerged as a transfer target for their club.

Some were left scratching their heads, while others swiftly took the opportunity to stick the boot into tyhe club's recruitment department after gaining their first answers online.

To an extent, the concerns were understandable. The element of unknown certainly didn't help.

Joel Piroe had netted just two goals in 20 appearances for Sparta Rotterdam during the 2019/20 season.

What only more in-depth research would show was that the Wijchen-born star's league record of two strikes in 18 outings came at a rate of a goal every 192.5 minutes, or little more than a goal every other game.

Exactly a half of his league appearances for the club were no more than 15 minutes in length which fully highlights how difficult it was for Piroe to make an impact.

At first glance, the Dutchman's second season in senior football did little to whet the appetite either, but, once again, delve deeper and the potential becomes clearer.

His return of three strikes in 14 first team outings for PSV Eindhoven during the 2020/21 campaign came at a rate of a goal every 72.3 minutes.

The Swans had done their due diligence and were sufficiently convinced to fork out more than £1m to bring the raw frontman to Wales.

A late change in manager hardly helped Piroe to settle, and Russell Martin himself recently hinted at his concerns over the forward's attitude very early on in the season.

"The first chat we had, and I think Joel will tell you, it wasn't an overly positive one," the head coach said after the recent 2-0 win at West Brom.

"There's a certain level of intensity we expect that he didn't bring in the