Macaulay's relishing Swans opportunity

New head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay is relishing his role of helping strengthen Graham Potter’s Swansea City squad ahead of the new campaign.

Potter’s arrival from Ostersund earlier this month saw assistant manager Billy Reid and recruitment analyst Macaulay join him from the Swedish club.

And following a re-structuring of the club’s recruitment process, Macaulay has today been named as the Swans’ head of recruitment.

While Potter will have the final say on whether players are recruited or not, it will be Macaulay who is charged with heading up the day-to-day recruitment process.

It will see the 32-year-old former Aberdeen midfielder identify key targets and provide recommendations for the Swans boss to help strengthen his options.

Further announcements on the club’s recruitment team will follow in due course.

“This is a very exciting opportunity for me,” said Macaulay. “I obviously know Graham very well from our time at Ostersund and I’m delighted to take up the role of head of recruitment.

“We worked very successfully together at Ostersund, and I am very aware of how Graham works and what he wants. Now we are here at Swansea and we face a new challenge.

“What we want to have is a clear and simple system where everyone knows exactly what is required of them.

“We want a really committed recruitment team who know exactly what Swansea needs.

“It’s about starting here at Fairwood Training Ground, establishing what we want and then looking at the players in the relevant markets to improve the team.

“That process has now started."

Of the plans for the recruitment team, Macauley added: “We will have a small team and they will have different strengths. I want them to see Graham and work with him regularly rather than be based outside of the club. I want them to see training sessions and the feedback players get.

“That gives them an understanding of what is required and could help make a better decision when scouting a player.

“Wherever anyone is based within our recruitment department they will still be very much connected to our base in Fairwood.

“We will work our hardest to ensure we have players that not only want to play for Swansea City but will also improve the team.”

“It is a market where I am keen to build my knowledge and contacts. I intend to be a real expert in the market and will work extremely hard to do that as quickly as possible. I know it won’t take me long.

“We have a good network of informal contacts here, but you can’t beat getting to stadiums and watching matches live. My week will involve watching games on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

“I won’t get to watch Swansea play live much, so I’ll have extra games to look back through on top of the ones I’ll be at.

“But that’s part of the job, and I’ll do whatever I can to help Graham, the team and the club.”