Joel Piroe: What can Swansea City fans expect?

Swansea City signed PSV Eindhoven’s versatile forward Joel Piroe this week, with the fee reported at £1 million.

Piroe made 11 appearances for PSV last season, scoring once, but it is his excellent record in youth football that attracted Steve Cooper and the Swans’ recruitment team to his signature.

He joins after the additions of Everton’s Nico Defreitas-Hansen and fellow striker Kyle Joseph arrived from Wigan.

In a video posted on Swansea’s official Twitter account, Piroe said:

“Hello Swansea fans. I have just signed my contract. I will be joining you soon and I hope we can do great things this season. I can’t wait to see you all.”

Piroe began his career in youth football with NEC, originally as a left-back and left midfielder, before joining Feyenoord’s famed academy. At 16, he signed his first professional contract with PSV Eindhoven after moving from Rotterdam.

He made his debut for Jong PSV in the Eerste Division a few months later against Achilles ’29 and scored twice in 12 matches in his inaugural campaign.

Three years in the youth team followed including the 2018/19 campaign, in which he bagged 11 league goals, before a difficult loan spell at Sparta Rotterdam.

He scored just twice in 18 appearances for De Kastelheeren and returned to his parent club this season.

On his first-team debut though, he showed the real promise which Swansea fans can look forward to. His brace against Omonoia Nicosia in the Europa League is the brightest moment in his brief senior career so far.

Piroe has excelled differently on an international level. In the 2017 European under-19 Championship, he picked up the Golden Boot with three goals and has made 28 appearances across all youth levels.

Statistically, Piroe has all the attributes to succeed in the Championship. With muscular stature and standing at 5’11, he will suit the physicality of the league well.

Despite making those aforementioned 11 appearances, he actually only played 1.5 90’s for PSV, overperforming his xG by 0.33 – which could be an over-analytic way of describing the one goal he scored in the Eredivisie!

With everything taken into account, Piroe should prove a successful signing long-term for Swansea – especially with the departure of Andre Ayew. Having been linked to Manchester City, PSG and Arsenal previously, he has the potential to even exceed the departing Ghanaian.

He could make his first appearance of pre-season in two weeks when Swansea City face Swindon Town at the County Ground.

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