Ryan Giggs: Former Manchester United assistant open to Swansea role as American owners consider a change

Giggs had been preparing to take six months out of the game after leaving Manchester United, visiting clubs such as Bayern Munich, Rel Madrid and Ajax

Giggs became the club's assistant manager following Van Gaal's appointment in 2014 (Getty)

The prospect of Ryan Giggs launching his managerial career in the top flight at Swansea City is becoming increasingly likely with the 42-year-old open to the role and the club’s American shareholders thought to be ready to install him if manager Francesco Guidolin’s bad run continues.

Giggs had been preparing to take six months out of the game after leaving Manchester United, visiting clubs such as Bayern Munich, Rel Madrid and Ajax. But Swansea would represent a good foothold in management for him and he believes that his nationality could help to compensate for a lack of experience, should the position fall vacant.

Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins is interested in the idea of Giggs at the helm. He believes he could motivate a squad who have secured one point in 12 since their win at Burnley on the opening day of the season. The club’s American ownership consortium, led by Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien, are reluctant to put the club through the tumoil of a sacking so early in their tenure. They are treading carefully and undertaking their own investigations into who would best lead Swansea into a strong Premier League position, should Guidolin not progress.

The Americans’ preparations are certainly likely to include establishing assurances that Giggs would want the job, as they do not want a repeat of the mess when they sacked Garry Monk last December and had no replacement ready. Giggs was under consideration then but Swansea seemed determined to appoint a manager with experience rather than take the risk that Giggs would represent.

Manchester United certainly view Giggs as a future manager if he can succeed elsewhere, having reluctantly parted company with him this summer when he could not find the senior position he wanted after Jose Mourinho succeeded Louis van Gaal.

Giggs’ determination to move into management is long-standing. accelerated into his coaching qualifications, working through Uefa B, A and Pro licences, accompanying England's Under-20s to Turkey in the summer of 2013, attending Warwick University's Business School and becoming the first individual to complete the mandatory qualification for Premier League and Champions League managers whilst still playing.

Guidolin could not avert another defeat for Swansea at the Liberty Stadium on Wednesday night, when they exited the EFL Cup at Manchester City’s hands. There are known to be concerns among some players about the Italian’s training methods, yet he insisted after Wednesday’s defeat that he did not feel under pressure.

The Premier League match against Pep Guardiola's side on Saturday is seen as an important opportunity for the 60-year-old Italian to assert himself, though is not necessarily a make-or-break game.