Joel Piroe served a reminder of his goal-scoring capabilities as he netted twice in Swansea City’s 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic on Easter Monday.
The Dutchman notched his 16th and 17th goals of the season for the Swans at the DW Stadium, taking his total to 41 goals for the club since joining from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2021.
Piroe enjoyed a superb 2021/22 campaign for the Swans, scoring 24 goals for the club in all competitions, and was rumoured to be attracting interest from Premier League side Leicester City last summer. However, the 23-year-old remained in SA1, much to the delight of Russell Martin and the Jack Army.
The forward made a relatively slow start to the current campaign, failing to score until Swansea’s sixth league game of the season, a penalty in the club’s 2-1 loss to Middlesbrough at the Riverside. This seemed to spark Piroe into life, scoring four goals in the club’s next five games before he failed to find the back of the net again until the start of November - this time during the club’s 2-2 draw with Wigan.
It was proving to be a frustrating campaign for the former Dutch under-20 international, but in recent weeks the ‘Piroe Party’ has well and truly come back to life at the Swansea.com Stadium. He has scored 12 times since Christmas, helping to allay any fears that may have been festering among supporters about Piroe being a potential one-season wonder.
Braces against Watford, Birmingham City and more recently against the Latics have helped to take Piroe to fifth in the Championship goalscoring charts, just two behind Viktor Gyokeres in second place.
“I’m very pleased to score two and I’m very pleased with the 2-0 win”, said Piroe in the aftermath of Monday's win. “The little downside is that I should have scored three, but I’ll stay positive.
“Before the game, I told myself ‘today’s the day’ I will hit 40 goals so I’m very pleased and to make it 41 is even better.
“To make sure I get to 20 for the season is now the aim for me.”
Given Swansea’s financial situation, Piroe’s age and his obvious goal scoring talent, the club will face a battle to keep hold of him over the summer.
In recent seasons, Swansea have had to sell their key assets every summer to stay afloat. Last season Flynn Downes joined West Ham United in a deal worth £12 million while the season before saw the likes of Jamal Lowe and Connor Roberts leave the club for Bournemouth and Burnley respectively.
Alongside captain Matt Grimes, Piroe is Swansea’s key asset and it would be no surprise if the club look to - reluctantly - cash in on him in the summer.
Last summer, a rumoured asking price of around £20million put potential suitors off the Dutchman but there is bound to be interest in Swansea’s top goal scorer again.
Speaking in April 2022, head coach Martin said: “We have a valuation for Joel and I don't think that's going to be flexible really.
"We can't say we're definitely not going to sell him, I can't say that about any player because any player outside the top four in the Premier League is for sale at the right price.
"But it'll take a huge sum of money to take him away from us.”
Swansea bought Piroe from PSV Eindhoven for a fee of £1 million in June 2021 and the Dutchman has just 12 months left on his deal. Piroe and his representatives were unwilling to negotiate a new deal with improved terms last summer and if it’s the same case this summer, the club would have to consider selling to avoid losing him on a free in 12 months' time.
Piroe’s contractual situation may force their hand as the club could well accept a reduced fee for Piroe instead of risking the possibility of losing him for nothing.
Swansea could afford to put a £20million price tag on Piroe last season as they’d already brought in a fee of £12 million for Flynn Downes meaning the club weren’t desperate for money.
This summer will be about balancing the books again - and Piroe is likely to be key to that task.
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