Welsh midfielder Joe Allen has joined Liverpool for a transfer fee rumored to be £15million.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has signed the talented 22-year old attacking midfielder after a series of prolonged negotiations including an initial failed £12 million bid plus Jonjo Shelvey. Allen, who is a Welsh international with 8 caps, has incredible composure in midfield. Plus, he’s a gifted passer of the ball and he certainly has a bright future ahead of him.

At Liverpool, he will fit right in to midfield — probably displacing Charlie Adam to a more minor role, and perhaps even signaling a departure for the Scot on to pastures new.

While Liverpool has acquired an wonderfully gifted footballer who will fit right in at Liverpool, here are 5 reasons why Swansea supporters should be optimistic about the Joe Allen departure:

1. The £15million fee smashes Swansea’s previous record for the highest transfer fee received. It may be hard for some to believe, but Swansea’s previous record for the highest transfer fee received was just £2million for Jason Scotland when Wigan signed him in June 2009.

How much did Joe Allen cost Swansea? Zero. He’s a local footballer who Swansea signed at the age of 9. For Swansea, who has a superb youth academy with plenty of local prospects moving through the ranks, this represents the best business deal in the history of the club.

2. Swansea has received £20million from Liverpool in just three months. I’d argue that Brendan Rodgers leaving Swansea has been a brilliant business move for the Swans. In just three short months, Swansea has received £20million from Liverpool for the compensation fee to let Rodgers move to Anfield, as well as today’s Joe Allen transfer. Plus, Swansea was able to sign Michael Laudrup as their new manager, a legend in world soccer who will fit right in at the Liberty.

If Swansea stays up in the Premier League next season, the club is planning an expansion of Liberty Stadium from the current 20,000 capacity to 32,000. The cost for the expansion? £15million. Thank you Liverpool!

3. Swansea already has a replacement for Joe Allen. Quietly over this summer, Swansea signed two footballers — both of whom are worthy replacements for Joe Allen and Gylfi Sigurdsson. New signings Jonathan de Guzman (from Villarreal) and Michu (from Rayo Vallecano) are brilliant footballers. De Guzman has joined Swansea on a season-long loan, while Michu is one of the steals of the summer, costing the Swans just £2million — a bargain given his talent and his proven goalscoring form in Spain.

Up front for Swansea, potential new loan signing Itay Schechter will make his Swansea debut tomorrow as striker against Stuttgart in a preseason friendly.

4. Swansea has moved into a new tier as a football team. By commanding a transfer fee of eight digits, Swansea has now moved into a new tier as a football club, one that is able to show that it is in a position of power in negotiations. The club is financially very stable and is not in a position where it has to sell players to get out of debt. The £15million transfer fee received for Joe Allen sets a precedent at Swansea where future negotiations for players of similar age and skill can command similar wages, depending on market conditions.

5. It’s a deal that’s too good to pass up. Swansea was in a position where they didn’t have to sell Joe Allen, but when a larger club comes in offering a fee almost ten times as much as the previous transfer fee received, it’s hard to pass on the opportunity.

Given Swansea’s expertise in the transfer market, the club could buy several players with the £15million it received for Joe Allen. While I doubt the Swans will go on a spending spree, it does open up the opportunity of breaking their own record transfer fee paid of just £3.5million for Danny Graham last summer.

While critics will argue that Swansea’s chances of survival in the Premier League next season will be hurt by the loss of Joe Allen, I disagree. We’ll certainly miss the brilliant midfielder, but the club is bigger than any player and it will move on and improve. I have no doubt that Swansea will stay up next season. The club has a system and enough talent to beat many of the other clubs in the league. I believe in the system, and I believe in Swansea City. Joe Allen will go on to do great things with Liverpool, and will probably win silverware at Anfield that he wouldn’t be able to achieve in Wales. I wish him the best of luck, and hope he thrives on Merseyside.