The Swans finished their pre-season tour of the United States with a win, a draw and a loss. The results might not have been much to write home about, but the tour has given new boss Michael Laudrup plenty of opportunity to evaluate the players.

With three new players signed already, talk of contraction in the squad and Liverpool sniffing around the Liberty like a pushy old lady in the reduced section of Tesco, it seems pretty certain more change will come before the season opener.

Michael Laudrup continues to re-paint the Swans in continental colours, but might have to watch Joe Allen turn red. Meanwhile, the Swans hit the States as the entire squad get their chance to impress the new boss.

Giving up an own goal to squander two points versus Chelsea was heartbreaking for the Swans. On the other hand, when a newly promoted team can complain about only getting one point instead of three against big six opposition, things can't be that bad.

Brilliance against Arsenal, bewilderment against Sunderland and a few small squad moves...

With the transfer window firmly open and some moves already made, I thought now would be a good time to take a look at some of the Swans transactions so far.

Needing to scour the free agent market for defensive help, the Swans have recently turned their attention to Hungarian centre back Zoltan Liptak.

Liptak was recently released by ex-Swans boss Paulo Sousa's Videton side, probably for scoring too many goals (especially for a defender). Liptak has scored a Stoke-worthy 13 goals in 149 games so far in his career, and being a set-piece threat is always a boon among defensive players. Plus, at 6'4", he's the Ryan Shawcross of the Carpathian Basin. Rodgers has spoken positively about his effort during training so we'll have to wait and see what happens.

Despite the Swans recent on-field success, many fans are still feeling aggrieved by FIFA's decision to block two of the team's summer transfers - those of Rafik Halliche and Darnel Situ. In response to several comments I've recived on this blog, I shall attempt to clarify why this has happened, to the best of my knowledge.

Of course, it is incredibly difficult to extrapolate official details of sensitive business matters such as transfer activity from anyone officially involved in football, so please take what follows as opinion rather than fact. It is educated opinion, but not absolute truth since there is no way to know the exact details without being directly involved.

The transfer window is finally closed which means it's time to take stock of Swansea's haul. It's easy to forget all the other players who Brendan Rodgers added before the season began; having done most of the work early, there wasn't much left to address. Nevertheless, some have accused Swansea of showing a "lack of ambition" with their low-key last minute additions. The latest new faces at the Liberty might not be big in terms of name recognition, but at least one of them represents an especially savvy pickup.