Michael Laudrup, Swansea City manager. Photo: John Walton/EMPICS Sport
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
9:24 AM
Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins is confident of agreeing a new deal with manager Michael Laudrup, and has no doubt the Dane will still be in charge at the Liberty Stadium next season.
Laudrup, whose current deal runs out in 2014, has been linked with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid after a successful first season in English football.
And Sunday’s Capital One Cup triumph, marked by Tuesday’s victory parade through the city centre, has only increased the amount of attention on Laudrup, who has also guided the Welsh club into the top half of the Premier League.”
Jenkins has made it plain he would like to sort out an extended contract, and further talks are scheduled with the 48-year-old’s agent in the coming weeks.
But, regardless of whether a new deal is signed or not, Jenkins fully expects Laudrup to lead Swansea into the Europa League next season.
He said: “Personally I have no issue about the thought of him (Laudrup) not being here next season, I think he will be here and he’s stated he would honour his contract.
“Michael has stated before he wants to be here next season. If you look at his career before he came here, he needed to find the right club and stability in himself as a manager.
“He needed the time to show he could work in an environment for a period of years and be successful, which is what top managers are about.
“We felt before he joined this was the right place for that, which has proved to be the case.
“We have been talking about a new deal, but Michael touched upon it himself that if he had a 10-year contract it makes no difference (to the speculation).
“We have security until next summer when his current two-year deal finishes and we’ve got a period of time to make sure we have more security on that and that’s something we will be looking at over the next few weeks.”
Laudrup himself has re-iterated his desire to remain with Swansea, having previously stated his intention to see out his contract.
“There are a lot of rumours and I know I will have to answer them a lot between now and the end of the season,” he said.
“But, as I have said, I am happy here, I think we can be an even better team next season and my intention is to stay here.”
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