Assist king Gylfi happy to be leading provider
9th May
In a season that has re-written club records, Gylfi Sigurdsson can proudly claim his own eye-catching statistic.
The Iceland star recently became the first Swan to create ten assists during a Barclays Premier League campaign, adding to his six goals in the top flight.
Having featured in 30 league matches this season, Sigurdsson has created a goal once in every three games, while he has been involved in 16 goals.
It underlines the 25-year-old's success since returning to the Liberty for a second spell following his summer switch from Tottenham Hotspur.
A modest professional, Sigurdsson naturally passes the credit onto his team-mates.
"It's always nice to get into double figures for any statistic, so for me to get ten assists is very pleasing," he said.
"When I was younger I took more pride in scoring, but as I've got older I can appreciate setting up a goal far more. An assist means as much as a goal to me these days.
"This season I've had quality strikers in (Wilfried) Bony and Bafe (Gomis) in front of me, while we have the likes of Wayne (Routledge), Nathan (Dyer) and Jeff (Montero) out wide while Jonjo (Shelvey) and Ki (Sung-Yueng) have also been around me, so it's easier to set goals up for players like them.
"They get into spaces and it's all about finding them and hoping they finish the chances. If they don't score then I don't get the assist, so I'm thankful to them for finding the net."
Sigurdsson has scored some stunning goals this season, with his free-kicks against Arsenal and Aston Villa proving unstoppable while his thunderbolt at Blackburn in the FA Cup flew into the top corner from 25 yards.
But the midfielder, whose tireless work ethic has also reaped huge praise from manager Garry Monk and his team-mates, has a few top-class assists to look back on too.
"My assist for Nathan's goal against West Brom was probably my favourite of the season," Sigurdsson reflected. "It was a quick, one-touch sort of move involving a few players, and when he touched it to me I backheeled it to him and he rounded the keeper and slotted it home from an angle.
"I really enjoyed the link-up for Bony's goal against Leicester too. That was a really good goal. He sent me in on goal with a great back-heel pass, and I faked the shot and slipped it inside to him. Then he beat the keeper with a powerful shot."
