Clement: We won’t have to sell top stars

Paul Clement insisted Swansea do not have to sell their best players this summer in seeking to build on their excellent second half of the season.

Swansea were bottom of the Premier League table with 12 points from 19 games when Clement became the club’s third manager of the campaign at the start of January.

Yesterday’s closing 2-1 home victory over West Brom gave them 29 points from Clement’s 19 games and lifted them to 15th place.

“We want to keep our best players and strengthen, not get weaker,” Clement said. “We’re not a club that needs to sell.”

Asked specifically about the future of Iceland playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson - who has been linked with Everton and Tottenham in recent days - Clement said: “It’s very clear for us.

“We don’t want to sell him or any of our best players. We want to keep them here, we want to strengthen and I think he, Fernando (Llorente) and the others have enjoyed the second half of the season.

“They can see this is a club that shouldn’t have been fighting relegation, they should have been doing a lot better.”

Swansea’s majority shareholders Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien were present as second-half goals from Jordan Ayew, his first for the club, and Llorente secured a 2-1 win after Jonny Evans’ headed opener for West Brom.

Clement is due to meet with the American owners on Monday to discuss the plans for next season, and Swansea will have nearly an extra £4million in the budget after their finalday victory.

Swansea pocketed an extra £3.8m for climbing above Burnley and Watford into 15th place on the final day, picking up £11.5m in total Premier League prize money.

“Of course it (extra money) helps, not only with players but also the infrastructure; better pitches, better travel, better hotels,” Clement said.

“These are all marginal things that can make a difference for a club like ours where every game is so tight.”