NEAL WANTS MAU PLEASE
FA Cup 5th rd: Swansea v Brentford
BERSANT CELINA is on an FA Cup mission today to prove Pep Guardiola was wrong to cast him aside without even an audition.
Celina will be Swansea City’s lead performer in midfield when they host Brentford for a place under the spotlight in the last eight of the FA Cup.
That is the kind of centre stage Celina, 22, craves after he was sold by Manchester City for £3million last summer without so much as a chance to prove himself.
The silky-skilled Kosovan was given just four games at City – all of them prior to Guardiola’s arrival in 2016.
Spells on loan with FC Twente in Holland and then Ipswich followed but he said: “The FA Cup is a bit of a showcase for not only me but for everyone else.
“That is how they should think, ‘Come and look at me and see what I can do’.
“If you get drawn against a big team, that’s your chance to prove to everyone who is watching that you can do it against them.
“None of the young players are dreaming about playing in the Championship for the rest of their lives.
“Everyone, especially me, wants to play in the Premier League.”
Celina’s four-game City career actually ended in the FA Cup, when he was part of an experimental side hammered 5-1 by Chelsea in February 2016.
He never played again under Manuel Pellegrini and was shipped to Twente soon after Guardiola breezed in.
But he has been Swansea’s main playmaker this season and although he’s lost a little status, there’s no loss of belief.
He said: “When I look back on my time at Man City, I remind myself I was training with top players and I know what to do to get to that level again.
“I managed to get through at one point when I was much younger.
“I know can do even better when
I get more experience.
“And that is the level I want to be at.Words rubbing sheorueldaecrasptwiointh players wfoitrhthtihsapticatumroeunt of talent.
“That gives me Dec 2018: Brentford 2 Swansea 3 Aug 2008: Swansea 2 Brentford 0 Jan 2007: Swansea 2 Brentford 0 Sep 2006: Brentford 0 Swansea 2 May 2006: Brentford 0 Swansea 2
Swansea – 31 wins Brentford – 28 wins Draws – 22 motivation. I didn’t feel uncomfortable being there – that was me and that was the place I should be.
“I am a very driven person.
“I will do, and am doing, everything to get back to the Premier League.
“I will never give up as long as I stay fit and healthy.
“If you believe in yourself, it will happen.” Brentford are currently 16th in the Championship – three places below the Swans. But they have slowly been recovering from an awful start to the season and have only lost once in their last 12 games.
Swansea boss Graham Potter is hopeful top scorer Oli McBurnie can shake off a recent bug to face Brentford.
Potter said: “I’m a million miles away from thinking about Wembley. I have far too much respect for Brentford to do that.
“At this stage, everybody thinks they have a chance to go through to the quarter-finals, that’s the nature of the cup.
“But we know we are playing against a more than decent team.
“They are a side that is as good as anybody in the Championship when you look at their recent form.” BRENTFORD’S top scorer Neal Maupay says reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup would prove he made the right decision to stay at Griffin Park.
Frenchman Maupay, 22, is hot property in the Championship after topping 20 goals for the season.
He was linked with £15million moves to Huddersfield, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough in January but opted to stay put.
Now the livewire striker, who cost just £1.6m from Nice, faces Swansea City dreaming of an FA Cup run that could take him all the way to Wembley.
He said: “I’m really pleased to still be here and very happy with my decision. I’m really blessed with the confidence Brentford gave me. So, for me it was an easy one.
“When I start something I want to finish it well so it wasn’t difficult to stay.
“The truth is I feel good in this team. I feel good with my team-mates and with the fans because they showed me great support.
“I’m going to finish the season really well and see what happens next.”
Brentford know they could still lose Maupay in the summer if big clubs come knocking.
But that’s the way the progressive Championship side works having already sold players like Andre Gray, Scott Hogan, Jota, Chris Mepham and James Tarkowski for big money.
Each of those has been successfully replaced by clever recruitment – with Algerian winger Said Benrahma and striker Ollie Watkins the latest to impress.
So, Maupay (above) has no doubts that Brentford, who haven’t reached the last eight since 1989, have the ability to win in Wales.
He said: “We feel good and we are really looking forward to this game. We are only two games from Wembley and it’s somewhere I have always dreamed of playing.
“It won’t be easy but I think we are ready and we are a different team to when we lost 3-2 at home to Swansea and conceded three goals in 25 minutes.
“That was a difficult time but we came through it and have had a great run. We are full of confidence.”
CHRIS HATHERALL