These are your Swansea City headlines on Monday, May 9.
Pompey among clubs targeting Joseph
Portsmouth are among a clutch of clubs eyeing up a move for Swansea striker Kyle Joseph, WalesOnline understands.
The 20-year-old joined the Swans from Wigan Athletic last summer and featured twice in the Carabao Cup before joining Cheltenham Town on loan for the duration of the campaign. Joseph was predominantly deployed as a forward at the Gloucestershire club but was shifted to the right wing, a position he has also played in for Swansea.
However, his stint with the Robins was cut short in January as he returned to his parent club. The attacker made 10 substitute appearances under Russell Martin in the second-half of the campaign.
It's understood several teams further down the football pyramid are monitoring Joseph's situation at present, with Pompey thought to be weighing up a potential move for the forward. Joseph's Swansea contract runs through until the summer of 2025.
Read more: What the future holds for Swansea City's out-on-loan players as one young gun to buck trend
Manning expecting transfer interest in players
Liam Manning says MK Dons are braced for transfer interest in their players after losing to Wycombe Wanderers in the play-offs.
Russell Martin's former side were beaten 2-1 on aggregate by Gareth Ainsworth's men in the League One play-off semi-finals, meaning they missed out on promotion into the Championship. Swansea have already taken goalkeeper Andy Fisher from Stadium MK to south Wales and are firm admirers of defender Harry Darling.
And head coach Manning admits their status as a club in the third tier means they will always be vulnerable to approaches from teams higher up the English Football League when it comes to their prized assets.
“You'll never stop the speculation and it should be a huge compliment for the club, for Liam Sweeting who does the recruitment, and for the staff who put the work into the players," Manning told the MK Citizen.
“We're in League One, there will always be teams above us looking, so we have to be prepared. There was a lot of panic in January when we lost a lot of players, but we showed we're proactive and we're working hard behind the scenes for things that can happen.”
Christie issues farewell post
Cyrus Christie issued a farewell message to Swansea City fans after his loan spell with the club came to an end.
The Republic of Ireland international joined the Swans from Fulham after Ethan Laird left to join Championship rivals Bournemouth in January. He swiftly established himself as a key figure under Russell Martin and featured 23 times in the second-half of the campaign, scoring three goals.
"It’s not how we wanted to end the season but it has been an absolute pleasure to represent @swansofficial this season," Christie wrote on Twitter. "Big thank you to everyone at this club that made me feel at home from day one, but most importantly The Jack Army, you showed me nothing but love from the start."
Christie's Fulham contract expires this summer, although it's understood the Cottagers - who will be playing Premier League football next term - have the option to trigger a 12-month extension in his deal. Martin is keen to keep the 29-year-old at Swansea while he revealed that the right wing-back himself is eager to remain in south Wales.
"They both want to stay," Martin said about Christie and Hannes Wolf after the 1-0 defeat to Queens Park Rangers. "It'll come down to finances. Both have sacrificed finance this year to come which shows their character." You can read the full story on Wolf and Christie here.
However, as things currently stand, it appears unlikely that the Swans will have the funds required to clinch a second deal for Christie.
Do you think Cyrus Christie will be a Swansea player next season? Have your say in our comments section here.
Defender's latest setback revealed
Tivonge Rushesha is set for another lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering the second cruciate ligament injury of his career.
The 19-year-old sustained the same injury in December 2020 but fully recovered before re-establishing himself as a key figure for the Under-23s this season. Rushesha - whose sole first team appearance came in the Carabao Cup against Cambridge United in August 2019 - captained Kris O'Leary's side this term and was recently named as the Under-23s player of the season. You can read the full story on Swansea's annual awards here.
And having undergone another operation, Rushesha is now expected to be out of action for the remainder of 2022. "He's done his cruciate again, on the other knee," explained head coach Russell Martin.
"It's so unlucky. He came back brilliantly from the other one, he now needs to digest it, he's been really upset, obviously.
"He's had the operation, and hopefully he's on the mend. It's just about us getting him in a good place mentally and physically, and just taking his time to get back and making sure he's right."
