Lord of the Dance
Swansea boss Russell Martin is 'pleased' Ireland's Michael Obafemi remained at Swansea after the Transfer Window closed
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Swansea boss Russell Martin is 'pleased' Ireland's Michael Obafemi remained at Swansea after the Transfer Window closed

THE TRANSFER WINDOW CLOSED on Thursday night, much to the relief of clubs up and down the English pyramid.  

A number of deals were done on the final day, but one player did not move, that was Swansea and Ireland striker Michael Obafemi.  

The 22-year-old was linked with a move away from the Welsh club. Championship side Burnley had two bids rejected for the Irish sharpshooter, but his move never became a reality.  

Obafemi, who returned to the Ireland side this year, scored 12 goals in 33 games for Swansea last year. He has become one of Swansea's go-to men.  

His manager Russell Martin detailed how he managed to keep Obafemi at the club despite interest from other clubs.  

The Swans lost Flynn Downes to West Ham. David Moyes signed the West Ham fan on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee believed to be £12m.  

Because of this business, Swansea did not need the cash injection from Obafemi's sale  

We didn’t undersell any players or need to sell any players because of the brilliant business we did with Flynn Downes earlier on in the window," said Martin.  

"That’s the player trading model at this club currently. We finished the day stronger [on Thursday] than we started it which I think on deadline day is the biggest hope for anyone, so we are really pleased.  

"I think the best bit of business are the people we kept in the building, Joel in particular. We’re really pleased Michael is still here. If we’d have known weeks in the build-up, then you have a different feeling and you can prepare a bit better, but it all happened so late."  

Obafemi will more than likely link up with the Ireland squad for the two Nations League games and the end of this month,  

Ireland play Scotland away 24 Sept, and Armenia three days later 27 September.