by Ethan Harris
SWANSEA City assistant coach Alan Curtis has praised the work of the academy at the club, for producing Championship regulars such as Joe Rodon and Conor Roberts.
Curtis has said the youngsters are just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to players coming through the ranks.
Manager Graham Potter has done a stellar job bleeding through his young talents into the first team squad, and they have certainly made an impression this season.
Discussing the importance of local players coming into the main ranks at the club, Curtis was full of optimism about just how far the players could go, hailing the spirit they have shown.
“I think the camaraderie, that is really important,” Curtis said at the release of John Toshack’s new book, ‘The Toshack Way’.
“People love to see the big signings we make, the Wilfried Bony’s and Gylfi Sigurdsson’s, but I think there’s nothing quite like the youngsters coming through the ranks.
“Connor Roberts, Joe Rodon and Dan James epitomise that spirit that they’ve got. They’ve come up together, I know they came up through the junior ranks and now they’re playing in the first team, stepping into the international stage as well.
“From us as supporters, including myself as a supporter, that’s great to see and they’re probably just the tip of the iceberg.
“There’s lots of players, younger players underneath who I’m sure will go on to not only play in our first team but play internationally as well for Wales.”
Wales manager Ryan Giggs has been eager to give international caps to the academy trio in Roberts, Rodon and winger Dan James.
Conor Roberts in particular has flourished in his playing time for Wales, but with more players tipped to make their way through the ranks, Curtis is hesitant to single out anyone just yet.
“I’d get into trouble if I started naming names and it would be unfair to single anybody out, but there are any amount of players,” he continued.
“You’ve only got to watch the Under 23’s or even the Under 18’s, or as far as the Under 9’s, the quality of the play of all the kids, it’s amazing, they would certainly put the likes of when I was playing to shame.”
The future certainly looks bright at Swansea City, and the national team will also be looking forward to the next crop of players making their way through.
