Swansea return for pre-season training but World Cup trio still missing

Swansea City have kicked off their pre-season preparations after the squad returned to training at Fairwood over the weekend, though three high-profile names remain absent following their World Cup exploits.

According to WalesOnline, head coach Vitor Matos put his players through initial fitness testing as they begin building towards the new Championship campaign, which gets under way in August.

Familiar faces and returning loanees

A club video shared on social media showed several key figures back in Swansea colours, including Zan Vipotnik, Liam Cullen, Ben Cabango and Adam Idah, all central to Matos’s plans heading into the new term.

Bobby Wales and Filip Lissah were also pictured training with the group after returning from loan spells last season. Lissah in particular impressed while on loan at Scottish side Falkirk, and WalesOnline suggests he is likely to be given a genuine opportunity to establish himself at first-team level this time around.

Florian Bianchini has also rejoined the squad following a difficult loan spell at Portsmouth, while midfielder Ollie Cooper was back in the building despite his long-term future at the Swansea.com Stadium remaining unclear.

Cooper’s future still to be resolved

Speaking towards the end of last season, Matos addressed the uncertainty surrounding Cooper’s position at the club. “Of course we need to speak about his future,” the Swansea boss said. “We need to see what is best for him and best for the club. But that is something we will take care of inside the club.”

World Cup trio given time off

None of Swansea’s three World Cup representatives have yet reported for duty, with Eom Jisung, Cameron Burgess and Marko Stamenic all being afforded extra time off after representing their respective countries at the tournament.

Joel Ward has also not returned to training, though his absence is unrelated to international commitments. The defender is now out of contract at Swansea, with his next destination yet to be determined.

New arrivals settle in

Aside from those absences, WalesOnline reports there were no other surprises, with Swansea’s two summer signings also present to link up with their new team-mates for the first time.

Winger Moussa Yeo introduced himself to the group on camera, saying: “I’m Moussa Yeo and I’m happy to be here.” Fellow new signing Stephen Welsh also expressed his delight at joining “a lovely group”, before sharing a joke that reportedly left Matos laughing, though the remark itself was inaudible in the footage.

Swansea will be hoping to build momentum through pre-season as they look to mount a promotion push once the Championship campaign gets under way next month.