Sheffield Wednesday end point proves Swansea City right on Jerry Yates exit | OneFootball

Swansea City's decision to sell Jerry Yates in the summer has been vindicated by his poor season

Jerry Yates' spell as a Swansea City player was brought to a premature end in the summer of 2025 when he departed for League One side Luton Town with a year left on his contract in SA1.

It's fair to say that Yates didn't live up to expectations during his time at the Swans, and while he registered a relatively respectable tally of nine goals in 46 appearances during the 2023/24 season, he spent the following campaign on loan at fellow Championship side Derby County.

Yates reached double figures for Championship goals while at Pride Park, scoring 10 goals in 42 appearances, and with Swansea facing a bit of a crisis at striker ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, the 29-year-old looked to have done enough to force his way back into the fold in South Wales.

However, he was sold to Luton before the season began, and Swansea will certainly think they made the correct call given how Yates' campaign has panned out.

Jerry Yates has endured a tough 2025/26 campaign

After a decent 2024/25 Championship campaign, it was a bit of a surprise to see Yates dropping to League One with Luton, and many expected him to take the division by storm.

However, things haven't gone as planned for Yates or Luton this season, and he started just 11 of his 22 League One appearances, scoring just two goals.

Yates did bag another five goals in cup competitions, but the Kenilworth Road faithful would have expected more given his Championship pedigree. Despite this, the former Swansea man managed to seal a Championship loan move in January, albeit to a Sheffield Wednesday side who had no chance of survival and have become the first club to ever be relegated at this point of the season.

While on the face of it a move to a Championship club suggests Yates has done well this season, the fact it was a struggling Sheffield Wednesday that signed him and play-off chasing Luton were willing to let him go suggests he's been deemed surplus to requirements by Jack Wilshere.

It would be unfair to judge Yates on his goalscoring stats at Wednesday given their situation, but there's no denying that a campaign that promised a lot for the striker is fizzling out in disappointing fashion.

His form certainly justifies Swansea's decision to sell in the summer, and there won't be any members of the Jack Army who are particularly disappointed with what seemed like a potentially risky call at the time.

Zan Vipontnik's form has justified Swansea City's Jerry Yates call

Zan Vipotnik endured a tough first season at Championship level, scoring just seven league goals last year, three less than Yates - a stat that seems barely believable now.

However, the Slovenian has scored 14 more league goals than Yates this season, despite playing in a higher division, which certainly vindicates the Swans' decision to sell to Luton.

Yates was sold at a time when Vipotnik's future was in doubt, Swansea had missed out on striker targets like Oli McBurnie and Richard Kone to fellow Championship clubs, and Adam Idah was yet to join, meaning it did look like a genuine risk to sell someone with Championship goalscoring pedigree.

It was a decision which could have backfired but didn't, and Swansea will be breathing a sigh of relief that they managed to sell Yates for a fee when his stock was relatively high before losing him on a free transfer this summer.