£400k Swansea City transfer masterstroke led to £90m windfall after “mistake” was rectified | OneFootball

Leon Britton rectified his decision to leave Swansea City, and the Jacks £400,000 re-signing of the midfielder helped them net £90 million.

The start of the 2010s saw eventual club legend Leon Britton depart Swansea City on a free transfer, but the Englishman eventually returned to south Wales to become a fulcrum of the side that would punch above its weight in the Premier League.

In the summer of 2010, Leon Britton departed the then Liberty Stadium at the end of his contract after having begun his professional career with the club in 2002 on a loan deal from West Ham United.

He would go on to become a key man in the Jacks’ midfield as they rose from the fourth-tier of English football and to the Championship, establishing himself as a key man in the early ‘Swansalona’ era.

Upon their return to the Championship, Roberto Martinez led Swansea to an eighth placed finish before Paulo Sousa brought them to seventh in the table in the 2009/10 campaign, with Britton at the heart of everything.

However, after seven and a half seasons at the club, he left on a permanent basis to join second-tier rivals Sheffield United – but it was a mistake that would soon be rectified by both Swansea and the player.

Britton didn’t last long at Sheffield United and returned to Swansea

Consistent underperformers of the time, Sheffield United went into the 2010/11 season under the management of Kevin Blackwell, who was replaced as early as August by Gary Speed.

The Blades got off to a poor start and things only got worse as they found themselves battling against the drop by the January transfer window, with Speed replaced by Micky Adams in late-December.

Having been a regular during that first-half of the campaign in South Yorkshire, Britton became disillusioned with the state of things and expressed a desire to return to Swansea, saying it was a mistake that he left in the first place:

Britton said: “It was a mistake and I should never have left in the first place. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and none of us would make any mistakes if we knew what was ahead of us.”

Britton had been the heartbeat of Swansea’s midfield under Roberto Martinez and then for large parts of the Paulo Sousa reign, until Sousa publicly said that Britton had rejected a large contract offer in December 2009, and that led to Britton coming in and out of the starting eleven as they pushed for the top six and the play-off places.

However, with Brendan Rodgers now at the helm at Swansea and looking to take on that ‘Swansalona’ culture even further, Swansea were able to purchase Britton for a fee believed to be in the region of £400,000; and it would be a fee that would be more than repaid for by the end of the 2010/11 campaign.

Britton inspired Swansea to promotion and new heights

As Sheffield United finished 23rd in the Championship and were relegated to the first of a six-season stay in League One at the end of the 2010/11 campaign, Swansea embarked upon a play-off campaign, having finished third in the table, four points behind Norwich City in second and eight off league winners Queens Park Rangers.

Britton immediately returned to being a key man at the base of Swansea’s midfield under Rodgers, and he was instrumental in inspiring them to play-off glory in May.

He scored the opening goal in their 3-1 defeat of Nottingham Forest in the second-leg of their play-off semi-final, before putting in an excellent performance as they defeated Reading by four goals to two at Wembley Stadium in the final.

That match was not only simply worth the enormous satisfaction and historic moment of Premier League promotion for the first time, but also worth £90 million as a result of the riches of top-flight football.

Britton went on to be a key man for Swansea for the next few seasons in the Premier League, too, under Rodgers and then Michael Laudrup, with whom he played a key role in helping the Swans win their first ever major trophy as they defeated Bradford City in the 2013/14 League Cup final, back at Wembley.

Britton had become a fan favourite and cult hero at Swansea before making his move to Bramall Lane, and after recognising and rectifying the mistake he openly admits he made, he established himself as a club legend.

There could have been some bitterness that Swansea had to spend £400,000 on a player that had rejected a contract and left them on a free transfer just a few months before, but his performances and influence helped them net an incredible sum of money and create some remarkable memories that may never be surpassed for Swansea supporters.