Swansea City must send scouts to watch Reading FC star and Adrian Mazilu, here's why | OneFootball

We took a look at who Swansea City should be keeping tabs on ahead of the January transfer window

January is fast approaching and Swansea City supporters will be looking forward to a first transfer window under new ownership after Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien recently sold their majority shareholding.

While it would be naive of fans to expect Swansea to splash the cash and spend tens of millions in the first month of 2025, they'll be looking to avoid some of the disastrous windows of years gone by under the old regime, like the debacle in January 2023 which saw six first-team players leave and not a single player signed.

Luke Williams and Andy Coleman will have begun planning their January business, and while it's a notoriously difficult month to do business in, the Swans will be hoping for a couple of additions to strengthen their squad and move up the table.

With that in mind, here are two realistic players Swansea should be scouting ahead of the January transfer window.

Adrian Mazilu

Adrian Mazilu won't be a household name to many Swansea City supporters, but the Brighton youngster is highly rated at the Amex Stadium after his move from Farul Constanța in January 2024.

The 19-year-old winger is yet to make a senior appearance for the Seagulls, but he spent time on loan in the Eredivisie with Vitesse Arnhem last season, and another loan move in January makes sense for the Romanian U21 international.

Mazilu performed excellently for Farul Constanța in the Romanian SuperLiga, helping his side lift the title in 2023 as an 18-year-old, scoring four times in ten appearances.

Swansea could do with a winger on loan in January with Ji-sung Eom and Josh Ginnelly out injured, leaving them with Myles Peart-Harris, Ronald and Florian Bianchini as options, but the latter is preferred as a striker and their current starting wingers haven't been in great form recently.

Mazilu needs a loan and after experiencing top-flight football in Romania and the Netherlands, a Championship loan could be a good move for him.

Brighton's scouting system has proved incredible in recent seasons and the fact they signed Mazilu shows that he's a potential star of the future.

Swansea supporters may point to Viktor Gyokeres' arrival from Brighton on loan in October 2020 as an arrival from the Seagulls not working out but it's fair to say he hasn't done too badly since.

Harvey Knibbs

Swansea are lacking a creative midfielder who can register regular goals and assists, and Reading man Harvey Knibbs could be the perfect player to fix that.

The former Aston Villa youth product has made an impressive start to the 2024/25 season and has scored six goals and registered two assists in 16 appearances, which is more than double what Swansea's top scorer Liam Cullen has managed.

The 25-year-old is out of contract at Reading in the summer of 2026, but the club's financial situation may mean that they have to accept a cut-price offer in January to improve their cash flow situation, with the Royals struggling for money and the wait for a takeover ongoing.

After leaving Villa in 2019, Knibbs joined Cambridge United, where he spent four years before the move to Reading and the chance to play in the Championship for the first time could be a tempting prospect for the attacking midfielder.

The 25-year-old is versatile and can play as a central midfielder or further forward and on the left, and someone with those qualities would be a big boost to Williams' squad.

Swansea haven't really replaced Jamie Paterson and, while they've also been linked with Swedish attacking midfielder Noel Milleskog, Knibbs could be an ideal addition from closer to home, and his form in League One this season suggests that he'd have no problems with adapting to Championship football.