For Swansea City, it has been a bit of a strange season as we enter the January transfer window and the second half of the campaign.

Had you asked the fans whether they would have taken sixth place with over half their games played, I imagine nearly every single one would have bitten your hand off instantly.

However, there remains a sense that the club are still underperforming, which is perhaps unfair on Steve Cooper considering he's had to contend with the departures of Oli McBurnie and Dan James whilst also filling the impressive shoes left by Graham Potter.

With the January transfer window now open, it looks like things may start to become even harder for the Swans boss.

It recently emerged that Watford were considering a recall for on loan centre-back Ben Wilmot, who has impressed at The Liberty during the opening half of the season, and did not want him playing in the FA Cup last weekend.

Here, we take a look at his season so far and what his departure could mean for Swansea...

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Aside from scoring the winner in their South Wales derby with Cardiff earlier in the season, Wilmot has continued to impress.

It took a while for the 20-year-old to break into the starting line-up, with that clash against the Bluebirds actually his first start of the season, but since he has started all but three Championship matches.

With leading defensive light Joe Rodon continuing his recovery from a nasty injury and Mike van der Hoorn also suffering set-backs, Wilmot has really had no choice but to make the step up.

And in nearly every aspect he has shone.

A pass accuracy of 84% shows that he is a perfect fit for the flowing build-up play that Swansea have become so famous for over the past two decades, whilst his long-pass accuracy also shows an ability to switch it up when necessary.

That is not to say he has let his defensive duties slip, however. 74 interceptions in just 20 games shows real intelligence on his part and winning 53% of his duels is also impressive for a man of his age.

The one area he will feel he could have done better in is in the air. Most centre-backs would be disappointed with winning less than half of their aeiral duels and I imagine Wilmot is no different.

However, the fact remains that if he is to go, Swansea are going to have to work very hard, and possibly wonders, in order to find an adequate replacement to fill the void left by him.