Michael Laudrup, the Swansea City manager, has claimed that Chelsea enquired about him becoming their new manager last summer, before Jose Mourinho was reappointed at Stamford Bridge.
The Dane, whose brother Brian made 11 appearances for Chelsea in the 1998-99 season, was linked with numerous jobs after guiding the Welsh side to the Capital One Cup last season, and had revealed during the Swans pre-season tour of the Netherlands that “big clubs” were interested in him. A well-documented falling out between Laudrup’s agent and the Swansea chairman only intensified the speculation of the manager leaving over the summer.
“Someone from Chelsea wanted to know about my availability, but there was never anything concrete,” Laudrup, who joined Swansea from Getafe in 2012, was quoted in Portuguese newspaper A Bola.
“Also, I had given my word that I would be in Swansea.”
One of Laudrup’s key players at Swansea, the striker Michu, says he is now in the Spanish set-up because of Laudrup. The 27-year-old is expected to win his first cap at international level on Friday night against Belarus.
“It's because of Michael Laudrup that I am here,” Michu told Swansea's official website. “He is one of the best managers I have ever worked with in my life.”
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