Russell Martin says Swansea City have received no approaches for Olivier Ntcham.
The 26-year-old - who still has two years left to run on his deal with the Swans - has reportedly attracted interest from French clubs this week. However, Martin has stated he has no desire to sell the former Celtic man.
"In terms of players like Oli, mid-20s, approaching their prime, we don’t have many of them in our squad," he said in a press conference. "It’s the first I've heard of it. There’s been no approach as far as I know.
READ MORE: Swansea City press conference and transfer updates
"I had a really good chat with Olivier today about certain things. He’s a great guy to work with. He’s got so much potential, it’s about bringing that potential out consistently.
"Olivier needs to be a bit more selfish at times. I’ve told him this. He trains brilliantly, a brilliant professional and has the potential to be one of the best in the league in my opinion. It’s about us trying to get it out of him now.
"He’s physically in a great place compared to where he was last season. Would I invite an offer for Olivier? No. I don’t know what the owners, Josh [Marsh] or Julian [Winter] think about that. I want to keep him and us to try and get the very best out of him."
Ntcham started his side's 3-0 loss to Blackburn Rovers last weekend and was brought on in the second half in each of the matches against Rotherham United and Oxford United. He is set to be included in the matchday squad when Swansea face Blackpool this weekend, with Cameron Congreve, Ollie Cooper, Ben Cabango and Joe Allen also set to be involved in some capacity.
The Swans go in search of their first win of the campaign at Bloomfield Road having failed to emerge victorious in any of their opening three matches so far. And head coach Martin admits his players are fully aware that they need to bring energy to their display against Michael Appleton's side to ensure the Jack Army head back to south Wales from Lancashire in positive mood.
"The fans have been incredibly positive and patient since we’ve been here, but we’re very much still a work in progress," he added. "We spoke about it with the players, we expect a certain level of performance and how the game is going to look.
"We have to give the supporters more energy, more risk in the final third, more aggressiveness in the final third and more willingness to put the ball into dangerous areas and make the opposition defend.
"Blackburn was a really big reminder for us of certain things we need to bring. I’d rather it happen now than in 10 games. We’re all quite relaxed about it. We’re frustrated, but at the same time, we know how hard the guys and how hard we work on trying to win football matches and we’ll start doing that soon I’m very sure."
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