Swansea and Carlos Carvalhal to decide future after final Premier League game

"Nobody wanted to come here, that is the reality," says Swans boss

By James Dale

Friday 11 May 2018 15:10, UK

Carlos Carvalhal says he will discuss his future as Swansea manager with the chairman after the club's game against Stoke on Sunday.

Sky Sports News understands Carvalhal is almost certain to leave Swansea at the end of the season due to doubts over whether he can lead a promotion charge, with the club's relegation to the Sky Bet Championship almost certain.

Swansea's only hope of survival is to beat Stoke and hope Southampton lose to Manchester City - with a 10-goal swing.

But Carvalhal launched a staunch defence of his Premier League record before answering any questions at his pre-match press conference on Friday.

He insisted the 13 points from 17 games the club achieved before he joined in December is the reason behind their struggles, revealing "nobody wanted to come" in the January transfer window due to their ominous position.

Swansea have an option to extend Carvalhal's contract for a further 12 months, but he said he has not been in the right frame of mind to discuss his future.

"I talked to chairman these last few days," he said. "I was not with my head ready to talk about anything in the future. I said to him I'm not ready to talk in this moment, I'm affected by the last game, the next one.

"After we will talk and decide what is the best to Swansea, and I will see what is the best to me. I'm a manager until the end of the contract, it's not a question of firing."

Carvalhal admitted it is "not nice" to hear speculation around his future before the club's relegation has been confirmed.

Asked if he believes Swansea want to keep him, Carvalhal said: "I don't know, really I'm not worried about that. My conscience, I think we did our complete best, we did a very good path here with 20 points in 17 games [since I arrived].

"The unique person I deal with is the chairman, he didn't tell me anything. To me it is not official, so when it is not official it is all the time speculation. In this moment it is not a reality for me."

The Swansea City Supporters Trust has called for the removal of Huw Jenkins as the club's chairman, but Carvalhal defended the club's hierarchy over their efforts to bring players in during January.

"It was very difficult to sign players, not because the chairman didn't do the maximum, he really did, not because the investors didn't do the maximum," said Carvalhal.

"But the reality is players didn't want to come to Swansea. Nobody believed we can change position. It was very difficult for us to improve the team.

"We lost Renato Sanches who was playing better and better in that moment, [Leroy] Fer, who was an important player in that moment. We also lost [Wilfried] Bony. We never turned face, never complained.

"We knocked on all the right doors, but they didn't even open them. Nobody wanted to come here, that is the reality."