Swansea City have appointed Northern Irish coach Michael Duff as their new manager and sacked their CEO as Rangers links to Morgan Whittaker intensify this week.
The Championship side have moved to replace Southampton-bound Russell Martin with the Belfast-born 45-year-old, who had a playint career as a centre-back with Cheltenham Town, Burnley and the Northern Irish national team.
Michael Duff will now take charge of Swansea ahead of the new season and has expressed his excitement at working with the club’s young players, which Rangers may well be hoping doesn’t include Morgan Whittaker.
The 22-year-old attacker was the subject of a bid from Rangers in January and there has been fresh reporting only this week that the Gers retain an interest in the former Plymouth loanee.
“I am looking forward to working with the young players here, I think we had the second-youngest squad in the EFL at Barnsley last year, and Swansea were third,” said Michael Duff.
“I come from a coaching background, in terms of working with the academies and things.
“With young players you get that energy and enthusiasm, because they are hungry to learn, and you can mould them.
“They are not set in their ways, they are not stuck in bad habits and, as long as they are receptive to new information everything I give them will be coming from a good place to try and make them better people, which in turn will make them better players.”
Swansea upheaval amid Rangers Morgan Whittaker links
The appointment of Michael Duff at Swansea also comes as the Championship side part ways with their CEO Julian Winter.
In an incredibly short and sweet two-line statement, Swansea thanked Winter for his service at the club as they prepare to move in a new direction next season.
Rangers fans will have one eye on what happens with Swansea over the next few weeks as they prepare to head to a training camp in Spain, with Morgan Whittaker a name routinely doing the transfer rounds at Ibrox.
Rangers are known to be in the hunt for a number of attacking players with Brighton attacker Abdallah Sima the latest name to be mentioned as the club’s transfer hunt continues.
