Swansea City loanee Cyrus Christie is willing to extend his stay at the Swansea.com Stadium beyond the end of the season, according to a report from Wales Online.

The 29-year-old arrived from league rivals Fulham in January with Neco Williams and Kenny Tete providing more than enough quality at right-back for the Cottagers, with Denis Odoi's presence during the first half of the season also limiting the Irishman's game time.

In fact, he didn't make a single league appearance for Marco Silva's side before his temporary move to Russell Martin's men but has become an influential figure in Wales as a regular starter at wing-back.

In fact, he has missed just one of the Swans' league games since his arrival, although his future remains unclear at this stage with Christie out of contract at Craven Cottage at the end of the season. However, he certainly won't be returning to Fulham after acknowledging his time there was up.

The Swans are thought to be interested in making this loan deal for the 29-year-old a longer-term agreement, although it remains to be seen whether they can win the race for his signature because there won't be a shortage of interest in his signature.

However, the Irishman is reportedly keen on a return to South Wales at the end of this term and with this, he could be one of the second-tier side's first signings of the summer if a deal can be reached.

The Verdict:

This would be a good signing for a side that may not have a huge amount of money to spend in the summer - and it certainly wouldn't be in their nature to splash the cash anyway judging from recent windows.

If they are to retain the likes of Flynn Downes and Joel Piroe over the summer, something they should probably look to do to retain some form of stability during their transitional phase, they won't have the license to spend much under their current owners.

This is why free transfers like this would be worthwhile - because the right-sided player has plenty of second-tier experience under his belt and he was even part of a Nottingham Forest side that had a respectable defensive record last season.

That has potentially been forgotten about due to his lack of appearances for his parent club this season - but he still has plenty to offer and if he can help to tighten up the Swans' defence - he could be one of the signings of the summer.

A two-year deal would probably be wise at this stage to provide Christie with some form of security but also keep their options open in terms of whether to replace him or not. The longer his contract is, the more difficult it will be to offload him if they want a new right wing-back to replace him.