Swansea City pocketed £7m profit after striking gold with Chelsea transfer | OneFootball

Scott Sinclair proved an excellent signing for Swansea City as he fired the club to the Premier League and bagged them a big profit

Swansea City's greatest day came in May 2011 when they defeated Reading in the Championship play-off final to reach the Premier League for the first time, and one man in particular was responsible for the Swans' success.

Scott Sinclair would not have been a household name to most Swansea supporters prior to the summer of 2010, but in less than a year the former Chelsea man would write his name into Swansea City history and become one of the club's most influential signings of all time.

Swansea boss at the time, Brendan Rodgers, broke the club's record transfer fee to bring Sinclair to South Wales in a deal rising to £1million, and it's fair to say that the winger proved to be worth every penny during his two-year stay at the club.

Swansea City struck gold with Scott Sinclair, Chelsea deal

Given Swansea had spent a small fortune on Sinclair by their standards, it was important that the former Chelsea man got off to a bright start at the Liberty Stadium, and he certainly did so.

Sinclair scored four Championship goals between the 28th of August and the 28th of September with a League Cup hat-trick against Peterborough United thrown in for good measure to take his tally to seven goals within a month.

The youngster's form continued throughout the season, and after missing out on the play-offs in the two years prior to Sinclair's arrival, the ex-Chelsea man made all the difference in firing Rodgers' side to third place in the Championship table with his 19 league goals sealing a play-off place.

However, Sinclair's greatest day in a Swansea shirt was to come on the biggest stage of them all as he bagged a hat-trick at Wembley in the Championship play-off final to take his side to the Premier League, and to take his tally to 27 goals in 50 appearances across all competitions in his debut season.

It's fair to say that Sinclair had justified his price-tag in his first season at Swansea, but he continued his impressive form in the Premier League the following season, playing all 38 top-flight games, scoring eight goals and registering four assists.

As a young English player who had proven himself in the Premier League, it was no surprise that big clubs were chasing his signature, and after a drawn-out transfer saga in the summer of 2012, Sinclair got his move away from South Wales.

Swansea pocketed £7m profit with Scott Sinclair's Man City move

Sinclair's form at Swansea saw him bag a dream move to Premier League champions Manchester City in August 2012 in a deal worth a reported £8million.

While £8million may not sound like a huge amount of money in this day and age, it was a big fee for Swansea to receive 13 years ago, particularly when you consider they'd broken their record transfer fee to sign Sinclair for £1million just two years earlier.

Sinclair's move to Man City ensured Swansea bagged a £7million profit which was subsequently reinvested as Michael Laudrup took the club to the dizzy heights of a top-half Premier League finish and League Cup success during the 2012/13 campaign.

Sinclair's spell at Swansea was the most fruitful spell of his career in English football, and while he impressed under ex-Swans boss Rodgers at Celtic, many feel that the wideman didn't live up to the potential he had shown in South Wales.

However, while he may not have succeeded at Man City, Sinclair will always be fondly remembered by the Jack Army for his vital role in firing Swansea to the Premier League and the £7m profit the club made from his departure in 2012.