Swansea reportedly planning £5m bid for Andros Townsend

The Independent are running with a story today which claims that Michael Laudrup is preparing a £5m summer bid for Andros Townsend following his impressive spell with Harry Redknapp's doomed band of 'triffic lads at Queen's Park Rangers which has seen the 21 year-old net two vital goals in eight appearances.

To be honest, the logic which the paper uses as a basis for a potential Townsend-to-Swansea switch is more than plausible. As is pointed out in the piece, Townsend has evolved over the past season and a half from a more orthodox left-winger into a well-rounded wide player who can also excel as an inside forward on the right flank. This versatility makes him seem like an ideal transfer candidate for Laudrup, who has built his team's success this year on fluid, interchanging attacking movement between wingers Nathan Dyer, Wayne Routledge and Pablo Hernandez.

Regardless of the plausibility of the rumour, however, I can think of endless good reasons why this hypothetical transfer won't come off. For a start, £5m is obviously a ridiculous lowball bid considering Townsend's talent and probable ceiling. Secondly, Tottenham have demonstrated in the second half of this season that depth on the flanks can make the difference in a tight race to decide top-six places, and it would be folly to just give away a player that could clearly provide a capable rotation option for Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon next season.

Townsend's direct approach and ability to function as a forward in a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 will also doubtlessly appeal to AVB on tactical grounds; add in the fact that he's a homegrown player (and would thus be valuable to have on the books for any elite European tournaments we may or may not be competing in next season), and you should have more than enough reasons to dismiss this one as a non-starter. I highly doubt that this will be the last time Townsend is linked with a move away from the Lane, however, and his recent form will surely mean that AVB and Daniel Levy's mettle over keeping the youngster will surely be tested with some tempting offers in the months to come.