Michael Laudrup confident Michu will stay at Swansea

The Spaniard has proved to be one of the bargains of the season

Michael Laudrup believes there is no danger of Michu leaving Swansea this month as so few of Europe's elite could afford him.

The Spaniard has proved to be one of the bargains of the season, having scored 16 goals in 25 appearances since joining for £2million from Rayo Vallecano in the summer.

Michu's latest goal set Swansea on course for a 2-0 win at Chelsea last night in the first leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final.

Laudrup was full of praise for the 26-year-old after the Stamford Bridge clash and fully expects him to end the campaign as a Swansea player.

"I would never expect a new player to come in and score so many goals, but I can't really say what expectation I had for Michu," the Dane said.

"What he is doing in terms of goals is incredible, especially when you think he's never been a number nine. He's always been a defensive midfielder coming from deeper.

"But against Chelsea he had one chance, one goal. That's a top-class striker. You'd pay a lot of money for that."

Asked about enquiries for Michu, he added: "Well, to be honest, I'm not the one putting the price tag on him.

"We all know the situation - the general economic situation in the world - so there really aren't that many clubs who can buy him.

"There are some here (in England). In Spain there are only two and I think Barcelona and Real Madrid have enough players. Italy, I don't think so. They're trying to sell.

"Bayern Munich in Germany so really there is only few, few clubs and Michu likes it here.

"He's happy with the team where he is so I'm really not afraid that something is going to happen because I'm so sure he will stay with us for the next five or six months.

"I don't know in the summer, but still I can't really see who could sign him. I don't know how much he's worth. Ask my chairman.

"He was the bargain of the season, we know that. But we're happy we've found the right players."

Last night was not just about Michu, though, as a solid team performance saw Swansea grind out the win, with Danny Graham's stoppage-time strike adding extra gloss to the scoreline.

"We're not there yet," Laudrup said. "We're still very far.

"We will need a great, great performance like that one, or the one when we played at home, defensively without the ball.

"We should have the ball more when at home, but there's still so much offensive potential in Chelsea.

"If we don't have a good day, they can still score two or three goals because of the players they have.

"What pleased me most is that I just wanted the players and fans to have the realistic possibility to get into the final going into that home game. We have that now.

"We have a realistic possibility, but there's still a mountain to climb."

PA