Swansea City find themselves linked with Seydou Doumbia, a struggling Premier League side desperately struggling to stay afloat and seeking to recruit the services of the unwanted Roma forward – sound familiar?
Swansea’s revival under Carlos Carvalhal looks to have temporarily steered them away from trouble, but Magpies supporters will be scratching their head if they see a Premier League return for Doumbia – a man whose arrival summed up the chaotic reign of Steve McClaren.
When Doumbia arrived at Newcastle in February 2016, on loan from Roma, there was optimism – he may have flopped in Italy, but his goalscoring record in Russia was decent and he had looked sharp in a two-goal Champions League salvo at the Etihad.
In truth, his signing will end up on the seemingly endless shelf of forgettable and pointless transfers under Mike Ashley’s stewardship, alongside the likes of Xisco, Ignacio Gonzalez and Sol Campbell.
He made just three goalless substitute appearances during a turbulent three-and-a-half months, as the club slipped out of the top-flight before he was chucked back to Rome.
Now, to be fair, Carvalhal might be looking to Doumbia’s follow-up act – 21 goals the following season at Basel – as reasons for encouragement, but considering the Roma centre-forward is back to warming the bench at Sporting Lisbon, is a fifth consecutive loan spell really going to be constructive?
One thing is for sure – if injuries dictate that Swansea are to place their survival hopes in Doumbia’s basket, it will possibly allow Newcastle supporters to breathe a little easier.