Inside Snoop's Swans swoop

SUPPORTING Swansea City might well feel a bit like some sort of fever dream at the moment.

- TOM COLEMAN

Bringing one of the biggest names in world football on board is one thing, but convincing a world-famous gangster rapper to not only promote the new home kit, but also actually pump money of his own into the club?

Nah. It’s all too much. Even in a world where Swansea's rivals are backed by the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Tom Brady and Ed Sheeran.

The mural of Snoop Dogg in the West Stand of the Swansea.com Stadium, which was unveiled shortly after news of his investment was confirmed, will take some getting used to.

But as ridiculous as it may seem, this is the weird and wonderful reality for the Swans right now, and none of it has happened by accident.

Swansea have made little secret of their desire to raise the club's profile on the world stage, an ambition that was the main driver behind the deal to bring Luka Modric on board three months ago.

To loosely quote the man himself, Snoop Dogg's involvement feels like ‘the next episode’ in those efforts.

It's not yet clear how large his stake will be, but it seems unlikely to be more than that of Modric, which is believed to be around 3%-5%.

A key attraction in bringing Modric on board was the name, which clearly resonates throughout the world of football, and the subsequent commercial opportunities that could come with tapping into his millions of followers.