Ryan Giggs: Manchester United legend denies 'underwhelming interview' and insists Swansea 'did not meet ambitions'

Manchester United legend Giggs met with the Swansea hierarchy on several occasions before they sacked Francesco Guidolin

Giggs during his time as an assistant coach at Manchester United ( (Getty Images)

Ryan Giggs has insisted that claims he suffered an “underwhelming” interview to become the manager of Swansea City are false and instead hit back at the Welsh club, suggesting their ambitions did not meet his own.

Manchester United legend Giggs met with the Swansea hierarchy on several occasions before they sacked Francesco Guidolin on Monday but the Premier League strugglers instead opted to appoint former United States boss Bob Bradley.

The Swans are owned by an American consortium and Giggs, 42, claims he received mixed messages from the board despite making his interest known after a brief spell as interim player-manager of United in 2014.

Speaking during ITV punditry duties ahead of England’s World Cup qualifier against Mata on Saturday evening, Giggs said: “I met with them [Swansea] a couple of times but in the end there was just mixed messages from the football side and the ownership side of the club. I just felt their ambitions did not really match mine.”

Bradley, meanwhile, has pledged to banish the suggestion that his American background could go against him in the Premier League. “With football in the United States we’ve always understood that we have to earn respect,” he said at his unveiling.

“When I was with the national team, every time we got the chance to play in Europe, the players and I would understand it was one more day where we could show what the game was like in our country. So if in some way this helps, I’m proud of what I’ve been able to do.

“But this bit about pioneer and all the rest? I’m not an American manager, I’m a football manager. So now, when I come here, I realise there is not one person in Swansea who could care less what anybody in the United States thinks at the moment. They care about their football club. And I’m here to give everything I have for the fans and the club and I couldn’t be more excited about that chance.”