Swansea City basked in eight-figure profit when Bradford City gamble eventually paid out

After ten Championship rounds, no side in the division had scored fewer than Swansea City’s eight goals, so how they could’ve done with a free-scoring striker to spearhead their attack.

Back in the day, Oli McBurnie did just that after his £250,000 move from Bradford City to South Wales, and his goalscoring form attracted Premier League suitors, as he eventually left for Sheffield United.

It’s hard to believe now that a player of his calibre was signed for such a nominal fee back in 2015, but it took him time to truly get up and running in a Swansea shirt, with several loan spells delaying his introduction to the first team.

When he did finally break into the Swans first team though, he clocked up an impressive 22 goals in 42 Championship appearances in 2018/19, the likes of which Joël Piroe once managed to replicate afterward, but he did so in 45 games.

The most pleasing aspect of that one incredible McBurnie season for Swansea is that they’ll have known how much Championship goalscorers command in the market, so it was no surprise to see the Scotland international depart for a fee believed to be £17m.

That represents an incredible profit for the Swans, but also Bradford, who are believed to have banked over £3m in sell-on fees.

£17m was simply too good for Swansea to turn down

It’s often forgotten that before anything on the pitch, football clubs need money to survive and run on a day-to-day basis, so to turn in a profit of over £10m after sell-on fees was simply sensational business by Swansea, the likes of which is relatively unheard of on the back of such a small initial investment.

Swansea had just missed their first shot at returning to the Premier League, which brings with a whole host of financial issues, as more player sales and wage cuts often need to be made to further bridge the revenue gap.

That’s a point illustrated by the fact they never signed a like-for-like permanent replacement for McBurnie in that window, instead dipping their toes into the loan market to recruit a striker.

You could argue that paid dividends as the season after McBurnie left, Swansea finished inside the play-offs courtesy of a sixth-placed finish – four spots higher than they’d managed the season prior when McBurnie was their top-scorer.

 

McBurnie has struggled since leaving Swansea

McBurnie’s career failed to really continue its upward trajectory after he left the Swans, with his Sheffield United career hardly what you’d call inspiring.

His best goalscoring season came en route to promotion in 2022/23 when he racked up 13 goals, and he followed that up with a respectable six goals in the Blades’ relegation campaign last season, although for large parts of the campaign he was out of favour.

This summer brought around a surprise move for McBurnie, who, despite Blades boss Chris Wilder’s desire to keep him at Bramall Lane, took the unusual step of heading off to Spain for a taste of La Liga.

Las Palmas was his destination, and after 10 games of the Spanish top-flight season, he’s yet to break his duck.

That goes some way to vindicating Swansea’s call to cash in, as you sense that the 28-year-old McBurnie’s career is starting to decline. Still, in his prime he was a player that was the envy of many EFL clubs.

 

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