Swansea City

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Ian Walsh has welcomed the takeover of his former club Swansea City.

After an eight year spell, Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan sold their majority shareholding.

Andy Coleman and fellow Americans Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen now control 77.4% of Swansea's shares, with Brit Nigel Morris holding a 14% stake.

"I think the previous owners have been diabolical for this football club, without a shadow of a doubt," said former Wales forward Walsh.

"The club has gone backwards since the original Americans took over."

The former Swansea goalscorer added Coleman "says all the right things" but that "the proof of the pudding is what they deliver to this football club".

"I desperately want to believe that he is going away completely from the previous owners, even though he’s been involved with them," said Walsh.

After Sunday’s 4-3 loss to table toppers Leeds, the Swans are currently 14th in the Championship.

Walsh told Radio Wales Sport: "Results will be the key things as to whether these people are talking a good game or are providing a good game.

“I said back in the day, you don’t buy a house with the foundations breaking down, that’s what they seem to think has happened, but that’s far from the truth.

“This is a solid football club, it’s got fantastic fans, tremendous emotion, and in my opinion a changeover had to come.

“Let’s just see now in the next six months, because it’s not going to happen overnight, let’s see what they deliver.”

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

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Even in defeat, Luke Williams reckons Swansea City showed enough against the new Championship leaders to suggest they should be in the top half of the table too.

Sunday's 4-3 loss to Leeds United was a belting contest, with both sides trying to play eye-catching, attacking football.

As a result, two defences who have spent most of this season on top were opened up on numerous occasions.

The fact that Leeds took all the points courtesy of a stoppage-time Wilfried Gnonto goal was a little cruel on Swansea, particularly after they had conjured an equaliser only seconds earlier.

Having said that, Williams acknowledged that the Yorkshire side's greater quality ultimately proved decisive.

Swansea, who are now 14th in the table, have proved in the early stages of this season that can compete with teams like Leeds, having been blown away all too often by the Championship's heavyweight clubs in the last campaign.

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Remember, for instance, the 4-0 home defeat to Leeds in February, or the 5-0 mauling at Southampton over Christmas 2023?

Swansea's success or otherwise in 2024-25 is not going to rest on whether they can beat the likes of Leeds, Sheffield United, Sunderland or Burnley, even if Williams will hope to pick up a result or two along the way against this season's Premier League contenders.

What the Swansea head coach really wants is for his team to deliver results against all those second-tier clubs outside the top bracket.

Already this season, Williams' side have come away from games against Cardiff City, Bristol City, Stoke City, Blackburn Rovers, Sheffield Wednesday and Millwall feeling they could – maybe should – have taken more points than they did.

That is the area where Swansea will look for significant improvement as the campaign goes on.

And there are opportunities to improve their points return ahead, with Derby County, Portsmouth (twice), Luton Town (twice), Plymouth Argyle, Hull City and Queens Park Rangers to come in their next nine games.

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Luke Williams felt Swansea City proved they are good enough to compete in the top half of the Championship – at the very least – despite defeat to Leeds United.

Swansea lost a thrilling game in agonising fashion as Wilfried Gnonto's stoppage-time goal gave Leeds a 4-3 win in south Wales.

Swansea had twice led in the match, first through Harry Darling's early goal and then when Liam Cullen struck just before half-time.

Leeds turned the contest around to lead 3-2 before Florian Bianchini's 90th-minute goal appeared to have rescued a point for Swansea, only for Italy international Gnonto to have the final word and send the Whites top of the table.

"I am pleased with almost all of the game in terms of performance, but the result is really difficult to accept," said Swansea boss Williams.

"The performance certainly doesn’t look like anything less than a team that's top half at least.

"I certainly don’t feel like we looked miles apart from Leeds, that we should be 14th and Leeds top."

Leeds became the first side this season to score more than one goal in a game against a Swansea side who have been difficult to break down.

The Swans have been beaten seven times in 16 Championship games in 2024-25, though they are still lose a game by a wider margin than one goal.

Williams feels Swansea have competed better with the division's top sides this season than they did in the last campaign – but says his team must deliver more points against lesser opponents.

"We have to win games we are clearly capable of winning and games where we are by far the best team," he said.

"I don’t think this is the game where I can say we should have won, absolutely not. But there have been plenty where I have felt we have done more than enough to win and we haven't done that."

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Luke Williams says Swansea City will face a Premier League side in waiting when they host "absolutely fabulous" Leeds United on Sunday.

Daniel Farke's team finished third in the Championship last season but missed out on an immediate return to the Premier League after play-off final defeat to Southampton.

Williams expects Leeds to go one better this season by finishing in the second tier's top two.

"Personally I think they will," said the Swansea head coach.

"It's not like there aren’t other excellent sides in the division, but this group have been together and had a very good season last season, when [they missed out as] the teams at the top had very high points totals.

"They have built on that and have an excellent manager who has been in this position in many times. That's a good combination."

Leeds beat Queens Park Rangers 2-0 in their last game before the international break, which was a fourth win in six games for Farke's side.

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They have a squad packed with stellar Championship performers, including former Swans Joe Rodon, Daniel James and Joel Piroe.

"They are an absolutely fabulous team at the level," Williams added.

"But we have competed this season against the top sides better than we did last season, so we have to take some confidence from that and be brave and try to make a really good performance at home.

"We will have to be immaculate defensively and we will have to be ruthless at the other end."

Swansea have lost only one league game on their ground so far this season, when Millwall snatched an undeserved victory by scoring the only goal on a breakaway in the closing minutes.

Leeds, meanwhile, are looking to improve their away record. While they have won five straight games at Elland Road, the Yorkshire side have not registered an away victory in the last four attempts.

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Daniel Farke says his Leeds United side have to be "on it" after suggesting it will be difficult to score against Swansea City on Sunday.

Luke Williams' men have let in just 10 goals in 15 league games so far this season - with only four Championship teams conceding fewer.

And Farke also expects Swans striker Liam Cullen to be in buoyant mood against Leeds following his two-goal salvo for Wales against Iceland in midweek.

"It’s not easy to score goals against them (Swansea)," said Farke.

"I have to say they’re well-structured, I like a lot what they do in build-up and midfield play.

"Cullen will play with confidence after scoring a brace for Wales.

"We are respectful, we have to be on it."

Leeds have no fresh injury concerns ahead of their trip to south Wales.

The visitors will be without Isaac Schmidt due to a hernia problem, although Largie Ramazani and Max Wober are expected to be available.

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Jay Fulton will return for Swansea City's Championship game against Leeds United on Sunday after recovering from injury.

Midfielder Fulton has missed Swansea's last three matches with a calf problem.

But Luke Williams says the 30-year-old is looking "very sharp" as Swansea prepare to return to action after the international break.

However, Eom Ji-Sung, Sam Parker, Andy Fisher, Ollie Cooper and Josh Ginnelly remain on the sidelines.

South Korea international Eom could return to full training next week after picking up a knee injury while playing for his country last month.

Youngster Parker, who is yet to play this season, is also close to returning to full training after long-term hamstring issues.

And there was encouraging news for winger Ginnelly this week as he began light training on the grass at Swansea's Fairwood training base.

Winger Ginnelly, 27, has not played since September 2023 after suffering a ruptured Achilles.

"We are getting there again with Josh," Williams said.

"We have to be very careful and we need him to be very careful about everything he does away from the training pitch, because his body is not used to training fully because of the amount of time he has been away.

"It's a step forward. It's the stage he was at before his last setback so we are optimistic now that we are going to crack it, and we are excited to see him on the pitch."

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Luke Williams says he would be "amazed" if rival clubs have not expressed an interest in Ben Cabango and Harry Darling – but insists Swansea City are trying everything to keep the two centre-backs beyond this season.

Wales international Cabango, 24, and Darling, 25, both see their Swansea contracts expire next summer.

Williams, who says there has been no better central defensive pairing in the Championship this season, reckons interest in the duo from elsewhere is inevitable.

But Swansea's head coach says club chairman Andy Coleman is working to hard to agree new deals with Cabango and Darling.

"I have had a lot of communication with Andy Coleman and he has been very aggressive in this situation with these two players in particular, in a really positive way," said Williams.

"I have enjoyed that. This has been something new for me since I've been here – the real motivation to go and get things done, to communicate with the players and their agents thoroughly and respectfully.

"I am happy we have done everything we can and now we have to see if we have done enough to convince these really good players to stay with us."

Williams said last month Swansea needed to "build bridges" with the representatives of Cabango and Darling because of delays in discussing potential new deals.

In September, Darling said "no talks" had taken place with Swansea over his situation, with Williams responding at the time by stressing the need for "urgency" on the club’s part.

Cabango and Darling have been two of Swansea's star performers this season, with Williams adamant their commitment to the cause is "unquestionable" despite the fact that they could be free agents in six months' time.

Nevertheless, Williams believes the pair are likely to be aware of potential interest from other clubs.

"A lot of time has elapsed and they have to make sure when time is passing that they have options out there," he added.

"They have to consider them of course - they are not doing anything wrong.

"I don’t know, but I'd be amazed if there hasn’t been contact between their agents and other clubs.

"Let's see what we can do now and hopefully between myself, the other squad members and the board, we can convince them that this is the best place for them to continue to their careers."

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There were mixed fortunes for Swansea City's contingent of international players during the last break of 2024, with Liam Cullen leading the way on his memorable night for Wales.

Cullen made a breakthrough with Wales as he scored his first goals for his country in Tuesday's Nations League triumph over Iceland.

Cullen also played 18 minutes as a substitute in last Saturday's draw in Turkey, where club-mates Ben Cabango and Joe Allen were unused substitutes.

But Cabango played the full 90 minutes in midweek, partnering Joe Rodon – who he could be marking when Swansea host Leeds United on Sunday – in the centre of Craig Bellamy's defence.

And veteran midfielder Allen made his second Wales appearance since coming out of international retirement, playing the final 25 minutes of the Iceland triumph.

Swansea striker Zan Vipotnik has been busy with Slovenia, playing 72 minutes in their 4-1 home defeat to Norway – for whom Erling Haaland scored twice - last Thursday before clocking up another 91 minutes in a 1-1 draw in Austria on Sunday.

The Austria result meant Slovenia finished third in Nations League Group B3.

Lawrence Vigouroux was once again left kicking his heels on Cuba's bench as they drew 0-0 with Peru last weekend and then beat Venezuela 4-2 on Wednesday.

There was game-time for Nathan Tjoe-A-On, who played 76 minutes of Indonesia's 4-0 home loss to Japan before coming off the bench for the final 22 minutes as they beat Saudi Arabia 2-0.

Luca Muzzupappa
BBC Sport Wales

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He has not scored for Swansea City for a while, but Liam Cullen may be feeling more confident than ever when Luke Williams' side host Leeds United on Sunday.

The 25-year-old returns to club duty after a memorable spell away with Wales.

Having come off the bench to win just his sixth cap in last Saturday's goalless draw in Turkey, Cullen started against Iceland on Tuesday night.

Playing in a role behind the centre-forward - as he has done for Swansea at times this season - Cullen scored his first two Wales goals as Craig Bellamy's team came back to win 4-1 and seal promotion to the top tier of the Nations League.

He was named player of the match against Iceland, having also claimed assists for second-half goals from Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson.

Cullen has made little impression on the international stage before this autumn, but everything has changed for the Pembrokeshire-born player under head coach Craig Bellamy.

"He’s been so good. He has so many good habits," Bellamy said.

"I said to him when came on the other day, ‘you do not fail to impress me’.

"He constantly impresses me every minute I see of him in training and even in the meetings. You know when you just see someone who’s staring at the screen listening to every word you’re saying? That’s him."

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The praise for Cullen did not end there, with former Wales striker Nathan Blake saying the Swansea academy product "has come of age".

"He looked brilliant in that number 10 role, he got lost a bit in the first half hour of the game but after that was excellent," Blake added.

Swansea team-mate Ben Cabango, who also started against Iceland, said: "he deserves it all because he's been working so hard. I'm buzzing for him."

Cullen is Swansea's top scorer this season with three goals, though he has not netted at club level since mid-September.

He could face international colleagues Joe Rodon, Dan James and Charlie Crew - and perhaps even goalkeeper Karl Darlow - as he looks to find the target once more this weekend.

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Swansea City Women eased into the quarter-finals of the Bute Energy Welsh Cup with a 3-0 win at Carmarthen Town Women in the second round.

The Adran Premier visitors were frustrated by a dogged Carmarthen defence until after the hour-mark, when Emily Richards unleashed a left-footed strike from long range that flew into the back of the net.

Carmarthen's goal led a charmed life in a frantic moment of action that saw Jess Williams’ initial header hit the post from a corner, with home goalkeeper Ffion Ashman blocking Aimee Deacon's follow-up before Robyn Pinder again hit the woodwork with the rebound.

But a minute later Sammy Wynne worked space on the right of the Carmarthen box to squeeze a shot into the bottom right corner, then turned provider for substitute Jasmine Guymer to claim a third goal late on.

Bute Energy Welsh Cup second round

North

Felinheli 0-10 Wrexham

Llandudno 0-6 The New Saints

NFA 0-8 Aberystwyth Town

South

Cardiff City 2-1 Cascade

Johnstown 0-3 Pontypridd United

Caldicot Town 2-2 Barry Town United (Barry win 4-2 pens)

Penydarren 1-11 Briton Ferry Llansawel

Carmarthen Town 0-3 Swansea City

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After eight years as majority owners of Swansea City, Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan are set to be bought out by fellow shareholders Andy Coleman, Nigel Morris and Brett Cravatt, along with another businessman, Jason Cohen.

Coleman, Swansea's chairman, says the change of ownership could initially see more than £20m brought into the Championship club.

He has also suggested the takeover will bring "significant opportunities" to Swansea as they look to compete for promotion to the Premier League.

We asked for your views about what impact the takeover might have – and here is what some of you said.

Steve: If most of that £20m goes on buying players then maybe good times ahead, but the club already operates at a loss. Maybe the transfer process will happen faster, but the contracts of both first-choice centre-backs need to be renewed as a priority.

Jacob: Since Kaplan and Levien took over, it has felt like they have been running the club into the ground. There has been no upward trajectory and some decision-making has been horrendous. A lot of our fanbase have disassociated themselves with the club because they don't recognise it anymore. Hopefully, Coleman and co can bring that spark back.

Robbie: Glad to see that the proposed takeover is imminent. This will hopefully bring additional funds into the club as we desperately need to strengthen our squad if we are ever going to challenge for one of the promotion slots. Time will undoubtedly tell but fingers crossed.

Mike: We urgently need at least two good, attacking, fear-free goal-scoring players.

Clare: Providing the takeover gets EFL approval, it’s exciting times at Swansea. We have our club back and I’m interested to see what the plans are. I would like someone with football experience to join [the new majority owners].

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Owen: Sensible and targeted investment is key. That means securing contract extensions for the most promising players emerging and those that have started to establish themselves over the past couple of seasons. In the short term it means identifying and recruiting an effective strikeforce - can’t properly judge Luke Williams' possession football without goals!

Andrew: Whilst I'm not anti-Andy Coleman, for me he does have a little way to go to make me believe this is any different than before. However, I am hopeful.

Richard: I certainly hope that better times are ahead for the Swans. We will have to see if this group of Americans are any better. They say there will be £20m put into the club. Will any of it be used to strengthen the squad?

Shropswan: Seven years of broken promises, diminished squad numbers, poor signings and too many managers have provided fans with unquantifiable experiences and expectations. The new owners will be judged purely on how they improve upon the quality and the level they achieve. They surely cannot do any worse.

Thomas: Let's hope this time [the takeover] will do some good for the Swansea fans

Gareth Vincent
BBC Sport Wales

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It would be a popular move among Swansea City fans should Connor Roberts come back to the club where he made his name.

Roberts, who turned 29 in September, has made it plain that he wants to wear a Swansea shirt again before his playing days come to an end.

So what chance is there of Roberts returning? The fact he is keen represents one major step towards making it happen.

Swansea would have to be keen on the idea too, of course.

Transfers can be very tricky to predict but, as things stand, a move for Roberts next summer would make a fair bit of sense.

The Wales right-back's Burnley contract expires at the end of the season, so there will be no transfer fee involved should he leave Turf Moor.

Swansea, meanwhile, could be in the market for a right-sided defender.

Josh Key has been a star of Luke Williams' team so far this season and, while Swansea will not want to lose the former Exeter City man, transfer interest in him will be inevitable should he maintain his current performance levels across this campaign.

Swansea's other right-sided defensive options at present are 32-year-old Cyrus Christie, who recently rejoined the club on a deal until the end of the season, and Kyle Naughton, who turns 36 this week and is another player whose contract will expire next June.

Having spent the last summer window chasing young, cheaper players with development potential, Swansea would be taking a different approach should they target Roberts in six months' time.

But then they would getting a high-quality Championship performer whose commitment to the club's cause would not be in question.

Should the return of Roberts materialise, therefore, it would not be shock.