Swansea City were the winners of seven-figure Everton deal | OneFootball

Ashley Williams left Swansea for Everton in 2016 and it was the Swans who had the better of the deal

After a successful eight-year stay with the club, Ashley Williams is a Swansea City legend, but it's safe to say he wasn't able to replicate that when he completed a move to Everton in the summer of 2016.

Williams' time at Swansea was a real rags-to-riches story, joining the club initially on loan from Stockport County in 2008, before making it permanent that summer after helping the Swans to the League One title.

However, that was just the start for Williams, and he helped the club reach the Premier League in 2011, before captaining the Swans in the top flight, playing an integral role in some of the club's greatest days.

His time at the club came to an end in the summer of 2016 when he completed a £12 million move to Everton, and while it was a seismic blow to Swansea, it actually worked out a better deal for them than it did for the Toffees.

Swansea City were the winners of Ashley Williams' £12 million Everton move

Williams had proven himself to be a top Premier League defender during the previous five seasons with Swansea, but his stock had never been as high as it was in the summer of 2016.

The centre-back had captained Wales to the semi-finals of the European Championships, scoring a crucial goal in his side's 3-1 win over Belgium in the quarter-finals, and the chance to move to an established Premier League club like Everton was too good for him to turn down.

The £12 million price-tag looked an appealing one for Swansea as Williams was nearly 32 by the time he completed his move to Goodison Park, and while it was a tough ask to replace his quality and leadership ability, they reinvested that money wisely.

The Swans signed two central defenders in the summer of 2016, bringing in Dutchman Mike van der Hoorn from Ajax, while they also brought in Alfie Mawson from Barnsley towards the end of the transfer window.

While van der Hoorn proved a good servant for Swansea and was solid rather than spectacular, Mawson proved a revelation and was eventually sold to Fulham for £20 million, making him a shrewd investment with the money they received for Williams.

As for his time at Everton, Williams was never quite able to replicate the form he showed at Swansea, and while he was trusted to start 35 Premier League games during his first season at the club and was a regular in the opening months of the following campaign, he quickly fell down the pecking order and didn't play from March 2018 onwards.

He'd signed a three-year deal with the club when he joined, but he spent that final season on loan in the Championship with Stoke City and was unsurprisingly released by the Toffees when his deal expired in the summer of 2019.

There was no denying that Williams was a quality Premier League defender in his prime, but he was just days away from his 32nd birthday when he joined Everton, and it felt like his move to a big top-flight side came too late in his career.

The £12 million Swansea received for the defender actually proved pretty shrewd in hindsight, and the return on investment they made using it on Mawson's signing meant they were the winners of Williams' Everton move.

Ashley Williams is still a Swansea City legend despite Everton move

With 352 Swansea appearances, two promotions, and a League Cup under his belt, it's easy to see why Williams is a legend in SA1, and he's still fondly remembered to this day.

Understandably, supporters were gutted when it was announced that Williams would depart for Goodison Park, and it remains to be seen how Swansea would have fared in their final two seasons in the Premier League with the experienced Welshman at the back.

However, after making a huge £11,600,000 profit on Williams after his £400,000 move from Stockport eight years prior, nobody could begrudge him the chance to move to a bigger Premier League club in his 30s, and his performances in Euro 2016 also meant it was always going to be difficult for Swansea to keep hold of him.

While Swansea are currently languishing in the bottom half of the Championship, Williams' time at the club brings back fond memories, and he'll always rightfully be remembered as a legend at the Swansea.com Stadium.