Swansea City urged to consider £15m transfer sale - 15-goal EFL striker tipped to replace him | OneFootball

Swansea City could cash in on Zan Vipotnik in the summer, amid his strong goalscoring form.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Swansea City striker Zan Vipotnik appears set to attract plenty of transfer interest in the summer market if he carries on the way he is going, thanks to his strong Championship form.

The 23-year-old has notched 15 goals and two assists in 30 second-tier appearances this season, even though the Swans are languishing in the bottom half of the table.

Saturday's 2-0 defeat to Derby County left Vitor Matos' men just 16th in the Championship, and whilst Swansea have struggled to establish consistency this season, they will be vying to bounce back from their loss against the Rams when they face Bristol City this Saturday.

Swansea City told they may be best served by selling Zan Vipotnik this summer

Vipotnik currently leads the Championship Golden Boot race, even though he plays for a Swans outfit who don't boast realistic promotion credentials.

Meanwhile, Football League World asked our Swansea fan pundit, Will Hughes, if he thinks it's inevitable that Vipotnik leaves the South Wales outfit in the summer, and if so, how much his current club should be asking for from interested clubs.

Hughes told FLW: "I think he 100 per cent leaves the club in the summer.

"There's multiple reasons. For one, if he stays top goalscorer between now and the end of the season, that puts a massive target on his head.

"You think about teams who maybe just got promotion to the Premier League, you may think of teams who have just got relegated from the Premier League who maybe have an influx of cash with parachute payments and may be looking for a striker.

"In January, there was talk about a Serie A club potentially looking at him. There's that - and I think his contract situation as well. It may be the peak time to sell him. What I mean by that is he's got two years left on a four-year deal. Realistically, I think if we sell him this window, we're going to get the most money, potentially, for him.

"If we leave it and hold onto him next season and then maybe sell him the summer after next, then he's only got one year left on his contract, and who knows? We've been in this situation before, where teams will be sniffing around, looking to buy him and offer a lot less, knowing that there's only one year left on his contract.

"I think this is the perfect time to sell. Who knows if this season is a fluke? Who knows if it's just a seasonal purple patch? He could go back next season playing like he did last season. We don't know. I think the best thing to do is sell him now. I think we're due a big sale. I think the last big sale we cashed in on was Joel Piroe. Certainly someone who was over the £10 million mark.

"I think the club will be really foolish if they hold onto him just because there are other areas of the pitch that we need to improve on. I feel like if we were able to sell him for £10 million-£15 million, which I think is probably the going rate for a goalscoring striker in the Championship, just going by how much we sold Piroe for and how much other players have been sold for.

"With his age as well. He's still in his early 20s, so he's still got a long way to go with his career. I feel like £10 million-£15 million would be fairly good business. I've seen a lot of people say £20 million - I really don't think he's worth £20 million. Of course, if someone came in with £20 million, then no problem - cash in Swansea City!

"Who knows? Maybe if he does stay top goalscorer, that'll add a couple more figures onto his transfer fee.

"If we can get £10 million-£15 million, I think that's good business, and it gives us the opportunity, then, to strengthen in other areas of the pitch.

"Obviously, we'd have to get another striker then. I don't think that'll be much of an issue. It's always hard to replace a goalscorer. But with how we want to play forward under Matos, it's fast-paced on the ball and then off the ball, that real high, dynamic press."

Two potential striker targets name-dropped if Swansea City cash in on Vipotnik

If Vipotnik were to be sold in the summer, Swansea would of course need to re-invest some of that money on a replacement, and Hughes has two names in mind - one domestically and one in Scandinavia - that could potentially do the job.

"We'd have to look for someone who's a bit more mobile than Vipotnik," Will said.

"That would be on my wishlist anyway. Two names that have sprung to me right now. That's Dom Ballard in League One for Leyton Orient. I feel like he'd be a good option, a very different player to Vipotnik.

"The other one I've seen, a bit more of a rogue choice is Daniel Karlsbaak, who plays in the Norwegian league for Sarpsborg. I can't say I watch him every week, but I've seen he's the top goalscorer in that league. Having seen some of his highlights, he's very big physical presence. He's good on the ball, a goalscorer.

"Of course, there's different options. Those are just two names I've thrown out. Different players, but both could do a job.

"Obviously, with the Vipotnik money, I don't think it would be an issue bringing either one of them in. As I say, I personally would sell up. Fans may call me mad for saying this. Even though he's top goalscorer in the league, I still think he's a very limited striker.

"For how we want to play, which is high press and everything. I think he doesn't suit that system. Take nothing away from the goals he's scored. A lot of his goals have been brilliant. But he's maybe not going to run the channels, he's not going to press. He doesn't win many headers.

"This isn't a criticism, this is just things I've noticed with him. There's other things we need to address in the squad, and I think the sale of Vipotnik would allow us to bring these in. Hopefully, a big sale would mean we could keep hold of our other top assets, the likes of Ethan Galbraith and Josh Tymon."

Ballard dropped into League One last summer after being sold by Southampton, and despite Orient's League One struggles this season, the ex-England youth international has fired in 15 goals for the London outfit.

Karlsbakk meanwhile had a standout season in Norway in the 2025 Eliteserien, netting 18 goals for Sarpsborg in 28 matches - the 22-year-old is contracted there until the end of 2028 though, and it could take a sizable sum to bring him to the EFL.

Zan Vipotnik sale could be the right move for Swansea City

Vipotnik has proven himself as the most clinical striker in the Championship so far this season, and he has plenty of time to reach the 20-goal mark that most strikers crave.

However, as alluded to by Hughes, it remains to be seen whether the current campaign is a purple patch for the 23-year-old, who scored just seven goals in 42 second-tier appearances last term after his move from Bordeaux.

Furthermore, Swansea's lowly position in the Championship suggests that they can strengthen the other areas of their squad, and facilitating the sale of Vipotnik would allow them to do that this summer.

Considering he was a free transfer arrival though after his Bordeaux contract was ripped up due to the French club's financial situation, Vipotnik is finally proving incredible value for money, and that could land Swansea a serious amount of profit for their books in a few months time.