Swansea City must fix Liam Cullen issue that is looming over Luke Williams: View | OneFootball

One striker may be catching the eye at the wrong time for the Swans

Swansea City continued what has been an encouraging start to the Championship season on Saturday afternoon.

A 2-1 win away at Coventry City meant the Swans have now taken ten points from their opening six league games of the campaign.

As a result, they are now seventh in the early Championship standings, just one point and one position adrift of the play-off places.

In what is his first full season in charge of the club, manager Luke Williams will no doubt be keen to push for a top six spot across the course of the campaign.

If he is to do that, then it looks as though Liam Cullen could well be one player who will be vital to the Swansea boss' plans going forward.

Liam Cullen has made a strong start to the season

With just eight minutes on the clock at Coventry, Cullen would get himself on the scoresheet, clinically pouncing inside the area after the hosts had failed to clear a free-kick.

In doing so, not only did the striker set his side on their way to this latest victory, he also notched his third goal in seven appearances in all competitions this season.

That ensured he is now the Swans' top scorer so far this season, and he is the only player to score more than once for the club in the Championship during the current campaign.

Those stats do seem to highlight just how important the 25-year-old will be for Williams as he looks to get the most of his squad.

However, it could also be argued that it does highlight one growing concern Swansea will have when it comes to Cullen's situation, as attention turns towards the January transfer window.

Swansea have Liam Cullen contract issue

As things stand, Cullen's current contract with the Swans is due to expire at the end of the current campaign.

That of course, will put some pressure on his current club in the lead-up to the market reopening at the turn of the year.

If he has not signed a new deal by January, Cullen will be able to agree a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs that would see him join them from Swansea for free in the summer.

Given how important the striker is becoming for the club, it would be frustrating for the Swans if they were to lose a potentially valuable player for free at the end of this season.

Of course, that situation also means that the January transfer window will be the Welsh club's last chance to cash in on him, before they could lose him for nothing come the summer.

Consequently, Swansea may find themselves under pressure to sell if an offer comes in, and it was reported back in the summer that several Championship clubs are interested in Cullen.

Such a situation could create a double sucker punch for the striker's current side, both costing them an asset, and potentially strengthening a rival, if he continues his fine start to the season.

A new contract for the striker ought to now be one of the top priorities off the pitch, in order to keep him, and give Williams as strong a squad as possible to continue this early push for the top six.

With that in mind, it does feel as though securing a new contract for Cullen, would be the sort of success off the pitch for Swansea, to match what they are doing on it at the start of the season.