Clement relishes USA trip as Swans await Tammy arrival

Tammy Abraham will meet his new team-mates in America this weekend with Paul Clement convinced Swansea City’s trip to the States will benefit his squad both on and off the field.

Abraham, who has been given extra days off because he was involved in the European Under-21 Championship this summer, is to link up with the Swans for the first time in North Carolina on Sunday after agreeing a season-long loan move to the Liberty Stadium.

The Chelsea starlet will join fellow new boys Roque Mesa and Erwin Mulder in the travelling party as the Swans step up preparations for the new Premier League campaign.

And Clement believes the 10-day tour will have numerous benefits for his players.

“This is a period we hope will be good for us for a number of reasons,” said the Swans manager.

“It is going to be very busy – we have a significant amount of travelling to do as well as three games to play.

“But the trip gives us the chance to continue our physical preparation and our tactical preparation ahead of the new season, and it also gives us a chance to build a really strong team spirit.

“When you are away 24-7 with each other that’s obviously something you can work on, and that is important.”

The Swans’ first tour game comes against Philadelphia Union this weekend.

They then face Richmond Kickers and North Carolina FC before returning home to continue the build-up towards their Premier League opener at Southampton.

“In our first game in America, as was the case at Barnet, the majority of players will play 45 minutes each,” Clement explained.

“After that, we will look to build more minutes into them.”

Fernando Llorente will miss the American trip because of his broken arm, while Ki Sung-Yueng will be absent because of a knee problem.

Gylfi Sigurdsson, meanwhile, has not travelled with the squad to the US. Having played against Barnet last night, the Icelandic midfielder did feel in the right frame of mind to travel due to the current uncertainty over his future.

Swansea City tour squad: Lukasz Fabianski, Erwin Mulder, Kristoffer Nordfeldt, Kyle Naughton, Angel Rangel, Kyle Bartley, Federico Fernandez, Alfie Mawson, Mike van der Hoorn, Stephen Kingsley, Martin Olsson, Leon Britton, Tom Carroll, Leroy Fer, Jay Fulton, Matt Grimes, Roque Mesa, Modou Barrow, Nathan Dyer, Jefferson Montero, Luciano Narsingh, Wayne Routledge, Jordan Ayew, Tammy Abraham, Oli McBurnie.