Contract talks planned in SA1 this week

Ryan Manning, Joel Latibeaudiere and Kyle Naughton will all sit down this week with the Swans hierarchy to see if there is any progress that could be made on extensions to contracts or whether indeed they will depart the club at the end of their current deals.

All three featured as the Swans signed off the season with a win yesterday thanks to a 3-2 triumph over West Brom at the Swansea.com that sent them into the summer off the back of a twenty-three point haul from the last twenty-seven available.

That return is to be admired and saw us end the season as the division’s form team which gives us one of the reasons why Russell Martin will want the three to extend their deals giving him a better chance to build on the squad rather than have to replace three players he sees as key.

The Swans boss already admitted yesterday that the ownership group have said they are open to extending his contract and he will hope that all the discussions expected to take place this week for him and the players is successful.

It has been widely expected for a few weeks that Manning would depart at the end of the season but there has been some positive noises in the past few days that could lead to an agreement being reached to keep him in SA1.   It has been suggested that several people close to the player and club are of the belief that this could be the case and talks will continue before the players formally leave for their summer breaks.

Kyle Naughton has spent more than eight years at the club since signing from Tottenham in January 2015 and he is another who it is now rumoured is moving closer to an extended deal with talks again continuing this week.

Latibeaudiere has maybe been one of those players who has played more games this season than expected but Martin very much sees him as a key part of his squad and, like the other two, the Swans boss wants him to stay for an extended spell.

It is difficult to predict exactly what will come of those player contract talks this week but it certainly is not inconceivable that all three could pen a new deal with the Swans excellent end of season form playing a part in any decisions that are made.

On the manager himself, it would seem almost certain for me that we are going to announce a new deal for him at some point in the new summer.   His two seasons at the club have seen progression which he has done on the backdrop of a relatively small budget and a very young squad.    The end of season run has shown just what could be possible and the club will be keen to ensure that he has a longer term deal in SA1.

Given Martin’s own noise about his work here in Swansea it does seem inevitable that a deal will happen and that at least will give some level of consistency ahead of next season.    And that in itself may persuade others to sign on.