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Swansea situation not ´hopeless´, says Clement

SoccerNews in English Premier League 19 Jan 2017

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Paul Clement believes Swansea City’s Premier League situation is not “hopeless” and he plans to work right up to the transfer deadline to improve his squad.

Luciano Narsingh, Martin Olsson and Tom Carroll have already been signed by Swansea as Clement looks to steer the club away from the bottom of the table.

Clement, who refused to discuss reported interest in Arouna Kone of Everton and Leicester City striker Leonardo Ulloa, also stated that he wants to keep Wayne Routledge and Federico Fernandez with more incomings likely at the Liberty Stadium. 

“It does not look hopeless, one [point] behind the team outside the relegation zone and not far behind the teams just above that as well,” Clement said ahead of Saturday’s Premier League match against Liverpool.

“That can change very quickly. 90-95 percent is thinking about bringing in players now to have an impact. But it would be naive to not think beyond that, just from an economic point of view.

“It is a difficult period now. We are not close [to announcing more signings], but we have targets and we are monitoring that on a daily basis because there is a lot of other things that can affect whether you do those deals or not. It is possible some of those things may run right to the very last days of the window.

“I am using all networks I have built up here and in France, Spain and Germany. You establish lots of relationships in football and the staff I work with here bring their expertise to the table to try and improve.

“Wayne is a good player and I don’t see him going anywhere – I want him to stay. And there’s no thought of doing anything with Fernandez. I like him. I think he is a good player and he will be staying with us.”

Narsingh is a doubt for the trip to Anfield with a calf injury, but Clement confirmed Olsson and Carroll are both in line to feature against in-form Liverpool, with Swansea having taken just three points from their last six league games.

“Tom is a really good footballer,” Clement said. “He fits very much with the style we are looking to develop here at Swansea. He has good experience of playing at a high level. He played a lot of games last year.

“Maybe he has not had so many this year, so I think this move comes at the right stage for him to come and play regular football. We are very happy to have him and Martin is someone I worked with briefly before [at Blackburn Rovers], so I know everything he is about as a footballer and a character.

“He has experience of this level and the one below, as well as international football, and I think he is a good addition. I think these players are going to improve us, absolutely.”

Swansea play Southampton in the Premier League on January 31 – the day the transfer window closes – and Clement accepted it will be tricky to juggle overseeing a match with completing signings.

“I might have to send a team out to play and I will be in an office on the phone,” Clement said. “We are preparing for a very important game here against Southampton that day and we could be also very much on the phones doing last minute deals.”

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