Swansea chief to get funds to boost squad

Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers has been assured by chairman Huw Jenkins that he’ll get the funds required to strengthen his squad this summer.

The Swans head into this weekend’s English Premier League meeting with relegated Wolves having confounded critics by all but guaranteeing their top-flight status.

A point from any of their last three fixtures would be enough to secure survival regardless of other results, and Rodgers revealed he sat down with Jenkins earlier this week to start looking ahead to next season.

Swansea made striker Danny Graham their record signing last summer when he arrived from Watford for STG3.5 million ($A5.49 million) fee.

While the Welsh club will never be able to compete with the huge transfer war chests available to the top four, Rodgers says the funds are there to comfortably usurp that sum.

“It was a brilliant meeting. The chairman was terrific,” the 39-year-old said.

“It was a really productive meeting and gives me great hope for the future. We’ve got a plan in place.

“We’ll have money – it’s about where that money goes – whether it be on one player and a few other signings or if it goes on three or four players.

“The most important thing is identifying the right types and if they are available it will give us a great chance.

“I really think from a player’s perspective this has got to be a real attractive place to play football.

“Players will get well paid here and they will come to a club that’s growing all the time, where success is a philosophy and players like to play our way.

“It’s an attractive club it’s just getting the right players for the right money.”

One man that Rodgers will target is on-loan midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, who has made a huge impact at the Liberty Stadium since arriving from Hoffenheim in January.

The Iceland international has racked up seven goals in his 15 Premier League appearances, capturing the division’s Player of the Month award for March as his goalscoring threat added a new dimension to Swansea’s play.

Unsurprisingly the former Reading man’s form has attracted the attention of several other clubs with Arsenal and Newcastle reported to be interested in making a swoop for Sigurdsson, who has two years on his contract left in Germany.

Hoffenheim would want to at least recoup the STG6 million they spent on bringing Sigurdsson to Germany, with reports suggesting a move would cost as much as STG10 million.

But Rodgers said: “I wouldn’t get too carried away with the figures that you read.

“It’s speculation but he is a player we would love to have here for sure.

“I’ve got no doubt the club will do everything they possibly can to help me get the players I want.”

A victory over Wolves on Saturday would ensure that Swansea could finish no lower than 14th in the final table, and the Welsh club still have aspirations of a top-10 spot.

While those hopes are based on the goal of achieving the maximum on the field, Rodgers knows that the higher they finish, the greater the financial rewards for the club with a difference of about STG750,000 per position.

“Money won’t drive that (league position) but it’s certainly a factor,” he said.

“We’ll finish where we deserve to finish but we will fight to improve our performance and win games, and that will take us up the league.

“We’ve got a big project here, not just on the field but off it with things like the training ground and it’s a real exciting time.

“It’s phenomenal and the more money we can get the more we can put to good use.

“We would all have taken 14th at the beginning of the season but can we finish higher? That’s the aim.”

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