Joël Latibeaudière is Swansea’s latest star in the making but he just needs time

With Marc Guehi’s transfer to Crystal Palace ending all hope of a Swansea return, it gives chance to other upcoming stars contracted to the club to impress.

Welsh international Ben Cabango featured on 30 occasions last term, meaning he will likely take a senior role at the back alongside the experienced Ryan Bennett.

Pecking orders do shift, however. 46 games await in the Championship season, meaning rotation will be key.

This ensures that the next in the hierarchy, 21-year-old Joël Latibeaudière, will almost certainly make a considerable increase on his ten appearances last term.

So how will he adapt to regular Championship football under a manager who demands so much from his younger players? And what qualities will he bring to a promotion hunting squad?

Leadership

Unlike many others his age, Latibeaudière has already captained at an international tournament – the U-17 World Cup for England in 2017 – showing already an elite level of maturity. They eventually won the tournament. Under which coach, you ask? Steve Cooper.

Preceding this Latibeaudière also skippered Manchester City Under-18s in their successful 2016-17 league winning campaign.

Speaking to ‘Scouted Football‘ last year, he cited his ability to communicate as the reason why he displays such qualities at such a young age.

“The coach [Cooper] had a lot of respect for me from watching me play at club level where I captained the teams at youth level at Man City. I’ve never been scared to state my opinion. Say if we’re in a set-piece meeting and I see something that maybe the coaches want to do different I would say, ‘what about if we do this, what about if we do that?’”

He continued his upwards trajectory into the under-23 setup at Eastlands, even captaining players’ five years his senior. Nothing ever goes quite to plan, though.

Resilience

A knee injury struck at a bad time for Latibeaudière.

His was likely the perfect pathway – if there ever could be. Captain, star performer and on the brink of a first team call-up.

It would be 300 days, around 10 months, before he would set foot on a football pitch again for City’s youth side against Tottenham.

“It was obviously not the best of times to pick up an injury but things happen and you have to get over them to overcome them.

“I wanted to push to go out on loan that January window, just so I could get a half-season playing men’s football, so the injury prevented me from doing that.”

The mental strength and toughness required for a recovery at such a young age and with such a bright future ahead must be at an elite level.

His Under-17 teammate Rhian Brewster also went through a similar situation at Liverpool. But like Latibeaudière, he is back playing regular football with Sheffield United.

A valuable spell abroad

Latibeaudière, like many in elite academies, found his first team opportunities wanting. The only route to experience came in the form of a loan move.

“I’ve seen a lot of young players go to Holland and come back better players; the likes of Matt Smith, Mason Mount and obviously the youngsters that come through at Ajax and everything, that’s why I ended up going.”

His destination at FC Twente was considerably less attractive than the dazzling Johan Cruyff ArenA, but it provided an experience that young Joel couldn’t turn down.

The Tukkers, once a giant in Dutch football, had just been promoted back to the top flight when Latibeaudière arrived. The tactical nous needed to keep a side in a league in comparison to the domination of a top-six academy.

He only made five appearances in the Netherlands before COVID curtailed the 19/20 season, but living abroad had matured the centre-back ready for his return to Manchester.

“That was a big thing for me, and I’ll definitely take away from it, knowing I can move abroad on my own and live in a foreign country on my own by myself.”

This interview was conducted during the summer of 2020, before Swansea swooped for the now 21 year-old. Ten league appearances later, his stock has now risen with new manager Russell Martin yet to invest in a new centre-back.

Martin favours a 3-4-3 system, meaning Latibeaudière is likely to start alongside Cabango and Bennett for the majority of the season unless investment is made.

Will he emerge as first-choice? Or will he simply remain a rotation option for Martin once more?

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