Swans boss says club ‘a long way apart’ over new deal for young right-back
SWANSEA City boss Luke Williams admits the club are “quite a long way apart” on agreeing a new deal for young right-back Sam Parker, amid reported interest from the Premier League.
Reports over the weekend claimed the 17-year-old had attracted interest from several top-flight clubs, including Brentford, Brighton and Hove Albion and Burnley.
Parker only signed his first professional deal last August, and went on to make his senior debut at Coventry City earlier in the season, before going on to play twice under Williams before picking up a season-ending hamstring injury in the 2-2 draw with Birmingham City.
The Swans boss has revealed the club offered the teenager a new deal shortly after he picked up that injury, but says the terms being demanded by Parker are beyond what the club can offer at the moment.
“I think there was a contract offer he wasn’t happy with,” Williams said. “Or it might have been his representative. I try not to get too involved with who’s saying what.
“But I know about as much as you in that he didn’t like the contract, so he didn’t sign it. If Premier League clubs are trying to take him away then we’ll have to cross that bridge but I don’t think we need to do anything urgently at the moment.
“I think it was [offered] very soon after he was injured,” he added. “I think that was a very classy thing to do. It was certainly something I was very keen for the club to do because I think when you’re in a dark place because you’ve had it confirmed to you that you’ll be missing the rest of the season at least and you’re going to be having a long summer, if you’re then going to be given a contract, it can show commitment from the club and can give you extra motivation. But, apparently not.
“Everyone’s got to do what they think is right for them. I like the young ones that say ‘thanks very much’ and don’t even look when they sign it. But everyone is different. There’s no issue, but we’ll have to revisit it because at the moment, from what I can gather, what Sam is asking for, in terms of contract and the details, we’re quite a long way apart.”
Meanwhile, Luke Williams says he doesn’t know anything about reports linking the club with a move for midfielder Marc Leonard this summer.
The Brighton and Hove Albion man is currently on loan at Northampton Town, and is likely to be made available on a permanent deal this summer. It’s understood he has attracted plenty of interest from League One and in the Championship, with Swans tipped to be one of those keeping tabs.
However, Williams says he’s not a name he’s currently aware of.
“I didn’t really hear anything yet,” he said. “But then we do have a big recruitment meeting coming up that’s maybe going to shed some more light on that.
“But I don’t know.”
The club are understood to be in the process of whittling down a shortlist of names to pursue this summer, with their recruitment drive likely to kick into the gear after the end of the season.
Aberdeen’s Connor Barron is a name that has been on the radar at SA1, while there’s also still some lingering admiration for Excelsior winger Couhaib Driouech, who revealed he turned down the Swans back in January.