Former Wales forward Nathan Blake feels Zan Vipotnik's output has been impacted by continued speculation about his Swansea future.
Question marks have swirled around Vipotnik all summer following an impressive 2025-26 campaign that saw him win the Championship golden boot.
Swans boss Vitor Matos has said that interest from other clubs has been difficult for Vipotnik to navigate as he awaits his first goal of the season,.
And Blake believes the Slovenian international missed chances he would typically score during Saturday's victory at Derby.
Vipotnik started on the bench for a second consective league fixture and missed a good one-on-one chance as the Swans ran out 3-0 winners at Pride Park.
"My theory with Vipotnik is that you don't mess with strikers when they are in form. He was on fire last season and hasn't known if he is going to move," Blake said on BBC's Feast of Football Podcast.
"If you're in his shoes, you'd be thinking 'I'm not playing, I'm moving, now I'm not moving, am I still first choice? Has Idah taken my position?'
"That ball which came across [against Derby], he finishes it last year. He wouldn't even have given the keeper a chance.
"I don't think he's been dropped, I think he's been put aside because they don't want to risk him getting injured and hopefully get £15million as a minimum.
"I think he's worth more than that.
"I could see by looking at his face, he's not on it. He's probably two or three yards short mentally because of what is going on."
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