These are your Swansea City headlines on Thursday, May 26.
Saints tracking target
Southampton are weighing up a move for Manchester City's James McAtee.
WalesOnline revealed the Swans' interest in the English starlet in November ( you can read the full story here ), although they missed out on a loan deal for the 19-year-old in January. They could well make a case this summer to bring McAtee to south Wales on loan for the duration of the 2022/23 campaign given their admiration of the player.
But The Athletic report that Ralph Hasenhüttl's men are keeping a close eye on McAtee ahead of the summer transfer window. Huddersfield Town have also been credited with showing an interest in the attacker, who can also play in midfield.
On February 2, McAtee signed a new contract to remain with Pep Guardiola's side until the summer of 2026. After putting pen to paper on fresh terms, the England Under-20 international said: “I have worked with some brilliant coaches in the academy, who have put me in a position to be able to train and play with Pep Guardiola and the first team, which is all I’ve ever wanted to do.
“I’ve been really pleased with my progress this season and I am sure I am in the right place to keep improving, so it feels amazing to know I will be a Manchester City player for another four years.”
READ MORE: A new transfer problem has emerged for Swansea City in a position Russell Martin treasures most
Obafemi hitting unseen levels
Stephen Kenny admits he's been delighted with Michael Obafemi's improvement in the second half of the season at Swansea.
The forward struggled to make an impact immediately after joining the Swans from Southampton last summer, scoring just one goal in his first 14 appearances for the club. However, he has excelled in 2022, netting 11 times from the number nine role thanks largely to an impressive link-up with Joel Piroe.
Having been left out in March due to concerns over his injury record, Kenny has called up the striker to his Republic of Ireland squad for their four Nations League fixtures in June. And the head coach says the 21-year-old deserves the chance to shine on the international stage following his efforts under Russell Martin.
“It’s the first time in his career, Michael, that he’s had a run of consecutive games," said Kenny. “It’s very hard for young players in the Premier League to get that, just the standard is so high and the squads are so big, so the move to Swansea, which is a great club and a great platform to really do well in the Championship, you can see really the improvement in his play.
“I’ve seen aspects of his play that I haven’t seen previously with Swansea – his hold-up play has really come on well and he’s shown great football intelligence allied to the natural speed that he’s got.
“The performances I’ve seen recently with Swansea are better than I’ve ever seen from him, so his rate of improvement has been very high. Michael is a charismatic guy and I know he’s very proud to play for Ireland and he’s excited about coming in.”
SIGN-UP: Get the top Swansea City stories sent straight to your inbox every day right here
O'Leary urges caution over youth talent
Kris O'Leary admits Swansea must continue to gradually expose their youth players to the club's senior set-up to aid their development.
Young guns Cameron Congreve, Joel Cotterill and Azeem Abdulai all featured in first team matchday squads in the second half of the 2021/22 season, with Congreve getting on the field five times under Russell Martin. The playing style of the Under-23s is very much aligned to that of the senior team.
Given the club's lack of finances and the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic combined with the lack of Premier League parachute payments, the Swans will continue to look towards their academy for talent. And O'Leary believes the pathway to the first team is as good as it has ever been at present.
"I think our job is to get people in and around the first team and we’ve done that in numbers this year,” he told the club's official website. "It’s for us to help continue to help them go on and make many more appearances.
“We’ve got to be proud as a club to see Cameron Congreve, Joel Cotterill and Azeem Abdulai around the first team, this club is built on that. Congreve is a second-year scholar making his debut for the first team, and we’ve got two or three first year scholars who have played a lot of minutes for the under-23s - that’s something that the club have done really well.
“We’ve had to be careful and expose them to a level that we think is right for them. I think the rewards for people like Joel Cotterill is where he was at the last game of the season [first team squad].
“We’ve done it for a number of years, even going back before my time and I’m a product of that, it should give us all great pride in the work that we’ve done and I think everybody deserves credit."
READ MORE: Swansea City contracts and mass exodus reveals true scale of Russell Martin's massive rebuild
Palmer linked with Cardiff
Cardiff City held talks with Kasey Palmer over a potential move for the Swansea attacker.
The 25-year-old joined Swansea on loan under Steve Cooper but is now searching for a new club having been deemed surplus to requirement by Nigel Pearson at Bristol City.
The Bluebirds registered an interest in signing Palmer - who has one year left to run on his contract at Ashton Gate. But it's understood they are no longer in the frame for his signature.
Palmer made 12 appearances for the Swans, scoring one goal. You can read the full story on Palmer here.
International round-up
Joel Latibeaudiere featured for Jamaica in their friendly clash with Catalonia.
The Swansea defender linked up with the Reggae Boyz for the first time earlier this month and was handed his international debut at Spain's Estadi Municipal de Montilivi on Wednesday night. Udinese man Gerard Deulofeu netted a hat-trick as Catalonia won 6-0.
Meanwhile, Lewis Webb has been called up for Wales' final Under-21 Euro 2023 qualifying round matches next month. The Swans goalkeeper is currently on loan with Irish outfit Shelbourne.
Paul Bodin's men face the Netherlands on Saturday, June 11 before taking on Gibraltar three days later. Both matches will be held at Llanelli's Parc y Scarlets.
