Steve Cooper backs Bidwell to be a Swansea success

The left-back, 26, signed a three-year deal with the club today after his contract at QPR expired last week.

And Cooper revealed the former England Youth international turned down a number of offers from other Championship clubs to commit his future to the Swans.

“I’m delighted with the signing,’’ declared Cooper.

“Jake had offers from a lot of Championship clubs, so the fact that he believes in what we are doing here speaks volumes. It shows he really wants to be part of it.

“Jake has a wealth of Championship experience with around 200 games at this level, including a promotion and a place in the league’s team of the year.

“He is a left-back who fits the way we want to play. He can go forward and attack, plus he’s a very good and efficient defender. We are going to need both aspects with the brand of football I want to play, both with and without the ball.’’

Bidwell completed his medical in Swansea this morning and will fly out to Spain tonight to join the Swans at their pre-season training camp.

And Cooper is confident the former Everton and Brentford defender, who won international honours at under-16, 17, 18 and 19 level with England, will fit straight in.

“There is a great spirit among the group we have here, and it was vital we did our due diligence on Jake as a person as well as a footballer,’’ he added.

“We are going to be selective with everyone we bring in to ensure they have the right character to supplement a group that’s already together in a positive way.

“It’s really important to me because if we achieve what we want to achieve then everyone has to be pulling in the same direction - and the right direction.

“I spoke to a lot of people about Jake’s character. Leon (Britton) also spoke to Angel (Rangel) about him as they played together at QPR. Everything came back positive.’’