LOUIS SWAN GAAL
Prem’s bottom club ditch Clement and turn to veteran Dutchman
SWANSEA are trying to persuade Louis van Gaal to become their next manager.
The Welsh strugglers last night sacked Paul Clement and have already sounded out the former Manchester United boss about taking over at the Liberty Stadium.
Swansea want a manager who has Premier League experience, with ex-West Ham chief Slaven Bilic another possibility.
Former Southampton and Everton boss Ronald Koeman is also in the frame, but is not thought to be ready to make a return.
Van Gaal, 66, revealed at the weekend that he could be tempted back into management as he feels he
has unfinished business following his acrimonious departure from Old Trafford in 2016. The challenge for Swansea will be persuading him to take over the rock-bottom team.
Van Gaal said: “I said I will probably not manage a club any more. I would make one exception. If a big English club comes for me, I would do it. Because then I can get the chance to get one over Manchester United.”
It is believed that the Dutchman is one of the candidates who has been discussed by the Swansea hierarchy and the club are confident of making an appointment before Saturday’s game with Crystal Palace.
Former West Brom boss Tony Pulis is the bookmaker’s favourite, but Swansea are thought to
have reservations about him after his unhappy ending at the Hawthorns.
And if they do not make an appointment for the weekend, midfielder Leon Britton, 35, is expected to be put in temporary charge.
Clement, 45, simply ran out of time despite keeping Swansea in the Premier League last term.
The Swans have won just three times this season, are four points adrift from safety and it is felt they were not going forward under Clement despite the realisation that the club’s recent transfer business has been poor. Chairman Huw Jenkins said changing the manager halfway through a season “was the last thing we wanted to do”.
He added: “We felt we couldn’t leave it any longer and needed to make a change to give the best chance of an uplift.”