Swindon Town have signed Welsh youth international Joel Cotterill on a loan deal until the end of the season from Swansea City.

Following on from a pre-season display which highlighted some of the creative shortcomings of the squad, which Marcus Bignot says the club have been aware of all along, they have acted quickly to bring in a creative midfielder in Cotterill.

Last season, Cotterill spent the first six months on loan at Stockport County, making 12 appearances across all competitions and scoring one goal, against Sutton United, playing his part as they ended up becoming League Two champions.

The 19-year-old has been in the Swansea academy since he was seven years old and has represented Wales at international level at every age group since under-15s, currently possessing seven caps and one goal for the under-21s.

His first goal at that level came against Lithuania under-21s, scoring to put Wales 3-0 up in the 83rd minute before Lithuania gave them a late scare with two goals in stoppage time.

Speaking to club media after the deal was completed, Cotterill said:  "It's great for me to join a club with so much history. I've had my first taste of senior football last season and it may not have gone the way I wanted but I'm excited to be here and I can't wait to meet the fans."

The 19-year-old is also the cousin of 24-cap Welsh international David Cotterill, who was part of the squad that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

Cotterill has been involved with Swansea during pre-season, including playing 45 minutes in the second half against Swindon during their friendly earlier this month, as well as being part of the squad that went on the tour to Austria with ex-Town boss Luke Williams.

Head of Football Jamie Russell also added on adding the more advanced midfield player that Bignot spoke about: "We are really excited to add Joel to our squad for the 2024/25 season. We have tracked Joel for over a year and have been really impressed with how he has developed." 

"Recently we played Swansea as part of our pre-season programme and Joel showed great technical ability and maturity above his years. Joel is a ball-playing midfielder who can play in a number of central positions and I would like to thank Swansea for allowing Joel to join the club on loan this season."