Swans plan new deal talks for Chelsea, Newcastle, Everton targets

Swansea are planning swift talks to resolve the futures of star men Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente after retaining their Premier League status.

Iceland playmaker Sigurddson has been linked with Everton, Newcastle and West Ham, while Spain striker Llorente could again be targeted by Chelsea after playing prominent roles in Swansea’s successful battle against relegation.

Nine-goal Sigurdsson is top of the Premier League assists charts with 13, while no one has scored more headers in the division than 14-goal Llorente.

“You always want to keep your best players and they’ve been excellent all season,” Swansea head coach Paul Clement said of Sigurdsson and Llorente on Sky Sports.

“We’re going to have those discussions this weekend and in the early days of next week to decide how we move forward – myself, the chairman Huw Jenkins and our two main owners, Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien.

“But hopefully they have enjoyed being part of what we’ve done in the second half of the season.

“Hopefully they realise that we’re a good club, they’ve got good team-mates and they really want to stay here as well. I hope they do.”

Swansea’s first signing of the summer could be assistant manager Claude Makelele, who joined the club following Clement’s appointment in January.

Clement says former Chelsea and France midfielder Makelele is close to agreeing a new contract, and the former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich number two is also planning to add to his playing squad.

“We are going to look at doing some things in the summer because we want to be stronger next season,” said Clement, who steered Swansea to safety by taking 26 points from 18 games after they had picked up only 12 from their first 19 matches.

“But I am very happy with the way the players performed and I don’t see massive changes.”

 

Jenkins in Clement tribute

Chairman Jenkins paid tribute to Clement – who on Monday was nominated for the Premier League manager of the season award – in helping Swansea rediscover their identity after a period of turmoil at the club on and off the field.

Jenkins said mistakes had been made as Swansea transferred into American ownership, and he suggested previous managers Francesco Guidolin and Bob Bradley had failed to get the best out of a squad he felt “was stronger than last year.”

“The stats speak for themselves, but what Paul’s done is bring belief back and get the best out of the squad,” Jenkins told BBC Radio Wales.

“Once Paul came in and stamped his authority on the squad the style of play improved and all the things we need at this club to be successful was there.

“The changes in shareholding, players and managers in that first half of the season didn’t look good or create a good image for our football club.

“That was the lowest point, because in the last 15 years we’ve been proud of what we’ve achieved and tried to do things in the right way.

“The first six months of this season was a big let-down and we lost a bit of pride and belief in what we were doing.

“But we can’t dwell on that. We’ve put it right and now we’ve got a great opportunity with Paul to push forward next season.”