Swansea City and Fulham were left frustrated and unhappy last night as the fall-out began from the Dean Leacock transfer fiasco.
Fulham’s Welsh boss Chris Coleman, a former Swans favourite, is unhappy at the way his old club dramatically called off the deal.
But the Swans say any disappointment Coleman may have is nothing compared to the dismay they feel over Leacock’s record £375,000 move to the Liberty Stadium falling through.
The Western Mail has been told the 22-year-old defender did fail a medical after the Swans put him through a more-thorough-than-usual examination.
Highly-placed sources have told us that problems with the player’s back, hamstring and calves showed up when tests were conducted.
No one would confirm this in public yesterday, but suggestions the player’s move had fallen down on medical grounds were gathering pace as Swans fans came to terms with the collapse of the deal.
Contacted on the matter by the Western Mail, Coleman was reluctant to say too much at this stage, although his unease came across in crystal-clear fashion.
He said he would make a detailed statement in due course.
But Coleman emphasised, “We didn’t envisage any problems. It’s something we’re not really happy with, the way things have been done.
“Dean’s coming back to us, and that’s all I can really say at this minute.
“I cannot comment any further on it, but I’ll be happy to talk about it eventually.”
Told what Coleman had said, Swans chairman Huw Jenkins responded, “I totally agree with what Chris is saying because we’re not happy with what’s happened either.
“I can tell you we’re far more disappointed than Fulham will ever be.
“Dean Leacock was supposed to be our No 1 signing, our record transfer, and someone who would help take the club forward.
“Nobody can come out of this feeling happy – Dean is a player we wanted to sign and Fulham wanted to sell. It’s just very, very disappointing that it’s fallen through.
“I can assure our supporters that everything was done over the last few days to make sure we signed Dean.
“We never ever wanted to let anyone down.”
Jenkins said he had no regrets announcing the Leacock signing before all the formalities of the move to Swansea had been completed.
“I don’t regret going public with it because we acted in good faith,” Jenkins said.
“We were signing a quality 22-year-old professional from a Premiership club.
“We fully expected everything would go through. We didn’t envisage there being any complications with the deal.”
