The promising Swansea City transfer work already in the pipeline set to support lofty claim

Swansea City are bidding to recruit at least one defender in the summer transfer window.

It is expected that there will be yet another significant turnaround of players in what will be Russell Martin's third window at the club. Players including Joel Piroe and Flynn Downes are expected to attract interest from other clubs while further recruits have already been targeted as Swansea bid to challenge for promotion next season. You can read more on the transfer work here.

As ever, it's difficult to say exactly how many of the current crop will remain at the Swansea.com Stadium beyond the upcoming market, but with a few further additions and a full pre-season, the Swans will be confident of further improving from August onwards.

The fate of every Swansea City star from minute-of-madness Stoke City game that sparked unlikely survival five years on

Swansea have used a total of 31 players in the Championship this term while others including Lincoln Mcfayden and Dan Williams featured in the Carabao Cup. The transformation of the starting line-up since the opening day defeat at Blackburn Rovers has been stark.

Only seven players who featured in the 18-man squad at Ewood Park on August 7 last year were included against Reading on Easter Monday, such has been the turnaround in personnel. But one position in particular within Swansea's squad has seen significant change.

Ryan Bennett, Ben Cabango, Joel Latibeaudiere, Finley Burns, Kyle Naughton, Ryan Manning, Brandon Cooper, Flynn Downes and Rhys Williams have all featured in Swansea's back three this season. The Swans have used a total of 14 different back-three combinations from the outset in league matches this term. Of course, they've also used a back four at times which