Swansea City: 2014 Bolton Wanderers swoop is not a blueprint to repeat
David Ngog, who signed from Championship side Bolton Wanderers in January 2014, made a surprising decision that proved successful.
Swansea’s 2013/14 season was proving challenging as they battled relegation for much of the season, and signing a Championship striker who had not been very successful did nothing to excite the Jack Army.
Ngog will undoubtedly be remembered as one of Swansea’s strangest signings, as well as one who fell short.
Swansea had Michu, Wilfried Bony, and Alvaro Vasquez as striker possibilities for the 2013/14 season, but Laudrup decided to bring in Ngog and Middlesbrough forward Marvin Emnes in January 2014.
Emnes, who scored the winning goal against Cardiff City on loan from Boro a few years ago, became a Swansea cult hero. However, both arrivals, particularly Ngog, were uninspiring for a Premier League team competing in the Europa League.
Laudrup definitely wanted people in the building with Premier League survival and Europa League knockout rounds to contend with, but Ngog’s spell at Swansea was nothing short of disastrous.
He made his Swansea debut just days after signing, coming on as a substitute for 13 minutes in a 2-0 loss to West Ham. This was Laudrup’s final game as Swansea manager before being fired and replaced by Garry Monk.
This was far from ideal for Ngog, who would only make two more appearances under Monk.
| David N’Gog’s senior career – Transfermarkt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | Seasons | P | G | A |
| PSG | 2006-08 | 24 | 3 | 1 |
| Liverpool | 2008-11 | 94 | 19 | 6 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 2011-14 | 91 | 16 | 12 |
| Swansea City | 2014 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Reims | 2014-16 | 48 | 10 | 3 |
| Panionios | 2016-17 | 14 | 3 | 1 |
| Ross County | 2018 | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| Budapest Honved | 2018-20 | 41 | 15 | 6 |
| Zalgris Vilnius | 2020 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Panionios | 2022-23 | 2 | 0 | |
The Frenchman played 13 minutes in a 4-3 loss to previous club Liverpool, a game in which Monk rotated the squad between Europa League Round of 32 matches against Napoli, and 17 minutes in a 1-0 loss to Chelsea.
In total, Ngog played only 42 minutes for the Swans, failing to make the matchday squad on most times under Monk, and, unexpectedly, leaving the club in the summer of 2014 after only three appearances to join French club Stade Reims.
The Frenchman was undoubtedly a panic buy, and it remains one of the weirdest transactions Swansea has approved in recent memory.
The January transfer window is shaping up to be a critical season for Swansea City, and Luke Williams will be hoping that any deals he makes next month are far more successful than Ngog’s.
Swansea.com Stadium’s new ownership group will want to make savvy, value-for-money purchases that can hopefully be turned into a significant profit in the future, which is everything Ngog was not.
Swansea have made other disastrous signings in recent years, particularly on loan, but none have matched Ngog’s signing in 2014, with the striker unsuitable for a European club at the time.
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