Lamine Sane shows Aston Villa and Swansea City what they’re missing

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Lamine Sane was close to joining Swansea City and Aston Villa in January 2016 – but is now inspiring a Great Escape at Werder Bremen.

While Paul Clement appears to have misplaced his Midas Touch, Swansea City slipping further into the relegation mire after a defeat to West Ham, a one-time target is showing exactly how to pull off a Great Escape.

According to the Daily Mail, both Swansea and Aston Villa were fighting it out for Bordeaux defender Lamine Kone in January 2016. The towering defender was poised to move to Remi Garde’s already-doomed Villa on loan, only for the Ligue 1 outfit to change their mind and request a permanent deal.

Though even a bid of £5 million from Swansea was not enough to bring Sane to the Premier League. However, after joining Werder Bremen in the summer instead, the 29-year-old did little initially to suggest he could have made a difference at either Swansea or Villa.

Bremen spent the vast majority of the season mired in relegation danger, their impressive attack frequently undermined by calamitous defending. It took until December for the 2004 Bundesliga champions to keep a clean sheet.

Since February, however, Bremen have been embarking on a survival fight that even Sunderland would consider a little over-dramatic. After losing their first five games after the winter break – for the first time in their history – Bremen are now unbeaten in eight, winning six. Now, in less than two months, they have gone from relegation certainties to the brink of Europe.

They even thrashed RB Leipzig 3-0 along the way.

And although Sane has missed the last three games with injury, his dominant performances at the back laid the foundations for the remarkable season’s-end push. Commanding and a beast in the air, the Senegalese international is ironically the player Swansea, who currently have the Premier League’s worst defensive record, are crying out for.

And although Aston Villa have conceded just twice in their last nine games in a remarkable run in the Championship, the fact that they may still offer a contract to Christopher Samba shows that Steve Bruce’s side are rather light at the back.

With Aston Villa dropping to the Championship at the end of last season, and Swansea potentially joining them in a few weeks, the sight of Sane thriving elsewhere will only add salt to their defensive wounds.