Phillip Cocu reportedly wanted Derby County to sign Andre Ayew from Championship rivals Swansea City.
Swansea City paid £18 million to re-sign Andre Ayew from West Ham United in January 2018 (BBC). So a club-record signing with 84 caps to his name really should be a class above in the Championship.
But after 18 months of inactivity and a disappointing loan spell at Fenerbahce, coupled with incessant reports that a move away from the South Wales was nothing less than inevitable, few would have expected that Swansea would be flying high in the second tier with Ayew the inspiration behind their early-season form.
The Ghana international produced one of his finest performances in two spells for The Swans at Loftus Road on Wednesday night.
He set up Bersant Celina’s first-half opener with a trademark through ball before clinching a 3-1 win with a glorious cross which made Sam Surridge’s first goal in Swansea colours a formality.
No wonder Steve Cooper is keen to eke every ounce of talent out of a mercurial and highly gifted footballer. He has everything in his locker to make the difference at this level.
And with Football Ghana claiming that Phillip Cocu wanted to reunite with his former Fenerbahce loanee at Derby County before the transfer window slammed shut earlier this month, The Rams will be left wondering what might have been if Ayew continues to fire Swansea into promotion contention.
Derby might have Jamie Paterson, Tom Lawrence and Florian Josefzoon at their disposal – but no one quite like Ayew.
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