Swansea City should forget the past and move for Ipswich Town man: View | OneFootball

Swansea City should look to reunite with Ali Al-Hamadi this summer

Ali Al-Hamadi has been on a meteoric rise in recent seasons, and as it stands, he'll be a Premier League footballer in a couple of weeks' time.

Two years ago, the Iraq international striker was struggling to get a game at Wycombe Wanderers and was loaned out to non-league side, Bromley, with the glamour of the Premier League seeming a million miles away.

However, moves to AFC Wimbledon and Ipswich Town mean he is now a Premier League player, although it remains to be seen how often he'll feature for the Tractor Boys in the top-flight.

The striker came through Swansea City's academy ranks before leaving in the summer of 2021, and with Al-Hamadi set to struggle for playing time in the Premier League, Swansea should look to bring him back to the club, with the Swans looking to sign at least one striker this summer, according to the BBC.

Swansea City should look to sign Ali Al-Hamadi on loan

Having only joined Ipswich in January, Al-Hamadi will presumably want to fight for a place in their Premier League squad, but it could be best if he leaves on loan this summer.

After joining the Tractor Boys in January, he played 14 games and scored four goals, a decent return made even more impressive by the fact he started just once, but just one start indicates that he won't be a regular in Kieran McKenna's side this season.

Having only moved to the Championship in January, it may not be the worst move in the world if the 22-year-old spent another season on loan in the second tier, and he hasn't been short of interest, with Oxford Unitedreportedly keen in June, and it being reported that he wasn't in McKenna's plans for next season.

With that in mind, Swansea should surely be testing the waters with a return for Al-Hamadi, despite the player being unhappy with his lack of first-team opportunity during his first spell at the club.

Al-Hamadi was at the club between 2018 and 2021, becoming a prolific goalscorer for the club's U21 side, and winning the U21 Player of the Year award for the 2020/21 season.

Despite this, he was never given a first-team opportunity by Steve Cooper, and left in the summer of 2021, despite being offered a new deal.

However, after his departure, Al-Hamadi told Wales Online: "I just felt if they could promise me an opportunity to prove myself I would stay. Steve Cooper was still there at the time. A week or two after I left, he then left. You never know what could have happened if I'd stayed, but you can't really have any regrets."

Cooper is obviously long gone, with Swansea on their third permanent manager since he left three years ago, and having spent three years living and growing up in the city, perhaps a return would appeal to Al-Hamadi.

A return to Swansea would be quite fitting, and it would give the player the chance to prove some people wrong.

Swansea City desperately need a striker this summer

Swansea are looking for at least one striker this summer, so it's clearly a position of priority, but as it stands, they have just one fit striker on their books.

Liam Cullen is Swansea's only fit striker, and they only have two senior strikers at the club, with Cullen being joined by the unfancied Mykola Kukharevych, who is currently injured.

This is far from ideal for a Championship club, and Swansea can't start the season with just one fit striker, so it's important that they add to that before their trip to the Riverside Stadium to face Boro on the opening day.

In an ideal world, Swansea could sign a permanent striker, and also add someone like Al-Hamadi to their ranks on a season-long loan. Luke Williams is yet to use any of his loan spots yet, so there would certainly be scope to add the Ipswich man to his squad.

Given his previous time with the club, their need for a striker and his situation at Ipswich, a Swansea return for Al-Hamadi makes sense, and it's something that should be explored in the coming weeks.