Swansea manager Michael Laudrup wants a decision to be made on the future of midfielder Joe Allen sooner rather than later, as speculation mounts that Liverpool will swoop for him.
GettyImagesJoe Allen’s future has been in question during his time with Great Britain at the Olympics
Allen, 22, has been heavily linked with a reunion with former boss Brendan Rodgers at Anfield in recent weeks and the Reds are believed to have already had a bid of £12.5 million turned down.
Laudrup revealed that he met with Allen, who has been on Olympic duty with Great Britain, for the first time on Monday and expressed his hope that there will be a swift resolution to the question of where the Welshman will play his football next season.
“Joe Allen showed up today at the training ground, he did not train but I had a small chat with him, but we did not touch the subject [of his future] right now,” Laudrup said.
“I did not think it was the proper moment, but we will have to talk about that with the player to see what he wants so we can say something official, otherwise the rumours will go on until August 31, which is not in anyone’s interest.
“On Wednesday he will be back in training with the other two guys who have been at the Olympics and then we will have some talks so it does not go on until the last day of the transfer window.”
While the rumour mill continues to churn out stories regarding Allen’s future, Laudrup has outlined his plans to strengthen Swansea’s squad regardless of whether the midfielder is still at Liberty Stadium next season.
“I have two players in mind for two positions, I can’t say more than that right now but at the moment that is my intention,” Laudrup said. “If something happens to one of the regular starters like Joe Allen, if he leaves we would need to find a replacement but the best situation for us would be to have two players for each position.”
Aside from the speculation over Allen, defender Ashley Williams has also been linked with Liverpool, while Scott Sinclair and Neil Taylor have been mentioned as targets for Manchester City and Manchester United respectively.
However Laudrup said: “There is always rumour, one day it’s Joe Allen, one day it is Ashley, the next it’s Taylor or it’s Leon (Britton) or (Danny) Graham. It’s normal, you look at it as normal and it says we must be doing something good.
“But you need a competitive team to play in the Premier League so of course we will not sell all our best players because what is the point of being the best club in the Championship?”
Laudrup has already brought Michu, Jonathan de Guzman and Chico Flores to South Wales so far this summer.
