Swansea City transfer news as stance on two managerial candidates revealed and ex-Arsenal starlet linked

Here’s your round-up of all the latest Swansea City news for Wednesday, June 14.

Hoefkens and Maloney links played down

Swansea City insiders have played down links with Belgian boss Carl Hoefkens.

Reports in Belgium claim the 44-year-old has emerged as a candidate for both Swansea and Leicester City, who are looking for a new boss this summer themselves following the expiration of Dean Smith’s short-term deal at the club.

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However, sources in the East Midlands claim Enzo Maresca, Scott Parker, and indeed Smith, are likely to all be ahead of Hoefkens in the pecking order to take over at the King Power.

Likewise, there are already doubts that the former Club Brugge boss will take the reins at SA1, although a move hasn’t been categorically ruled out. Similarly, Wigan boss Shaun Maloney isn’t believed to be a serious contender at this stage, despite recent links.

Hoefkens’ representatives declined to comment on the links when approached by WalesOnline.

Davies admirers grow

Football Scotland is the latest outlet to tip Chris Davies as the front-runner for the Swansea City job.

WalesOnline has already learned that Davies, who’s been out of work since leaving his assistant’s role at Leicester City, is a leading contender to take over, although there are believed to be at least two other candidates under consideration.

And our colleagues in Scotland have now suggested Brendan Rodgers, who’s seemingly set to seal a return to Celtic, may now have to look elsewhere for a number two.

Rodgers and Davies have enjoyed a hugely successful working relationship, which ironically began when the Northern Irishman was in charge of the Swans. They have since gone on to work together at Liverpool, Celtic and, most recently, Leicester City.

The suggestion is Davies is keen to make it on his own as a manager, although the same report claims Swansea aren’t the only ones believed to be interested in offering him a head coach role, while Ange Postecoglou is also keen on making Davies part of his new-look coaching team at Tottenham Hotspur.

Southampton officially a Championship club

Southampton’s status as a Championship club has now become official, as their wrangling over compensation for Swansea City boss Russell Martin continues.

The clause in Martin’s current Swansea contract dictates that a Premier League club would have to pay a higher compensation fee than a Championship club if they were to prise Martin away.

Despite being relegated from the Premier League, Swansea initially suggested the approach for Martin was made when the Saints were still a Premier League club.

There has since been a suggestion that Southampton would be prepared to wait until their Championship status was fully ratified by the EFL, before pushing a move for Martin through.

The saga has now drawn on into a third week, and it’s understood that Southampton’s status as a second-tier side was officially confirmed at the EFL’s AGM, which was held towards the end of last week.

However, at the time of writing, there hasn’t yet been any movement on Martin’s potential exit.

Swans eye Swanson

Swansea City are reportedly keeping tabs on Portsmouth right-back Zak Swanson.

According to Football Insider, the 22-year-old has caught the attention of the Swans and Championship rivals Coventry City, having impressed for Portsmouth last season.

Swanson made 25 appearances for Pompey in all competitions last term, netting two goals and chipping in with an assist.

The defender joined the club last summer, after coming through the ranks at Arsenal, and had a loan spell in Holland with MVV Maastricht in 2020.

He had previously been training with Arsenal’s first team and was named on the bench for a number of Premier League games in the 2021-22 season.

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