Swansea bid for Duplan rejected
Swansea City have had a bid for Edouard Duplan rejected by FC Utrecht as Michael Laudrup steps up his summer recruitment drive.
The French winger has a year left on his contract at the Dutch club who are prepared to listen to offers in order to avoid losing the 29-year-old on a Bosman free transfer next season.
Utrecht general director Wilko van Schaik admits he expected an offer from the south Wales side but turned it down as it was well below their valuation of Duplan.
“Swansea made us a bid. We rated it as too low,” said van Schaik.
“We can use the money but that is not to say we give away our players for bargain fees.”
New Swans boss Laudrup is keen to bolster the squad inherited from Brendan Rodgers and has spent the last week putting together a transfer shopping list with Duplan reportedly near the top.
Meanwhile, the Denmark legend is said to be close to the signing of Genoa defender Chico, according to Wales Online, after tabling a £2.5 million bid.
The 25-year-old has emerged as a serious target after Steven Caulker returned to Tottenham Hotspur after his loan-spell at the Liberty Stadium expired.
Chico, full name Jose Manuel Flores, spent last season at Real Mallorca winning rave reviews for his performances in Spain and was one of the names brought up in discussions between Laudrup and Swans chairman Huw Jenkins.
The 48-year-old is also rumoured to be tracking Villareal’s Dutch midfielder Jonathan de Guzman with the view to to filling the hole left by Gylfi Sigurdsson after he snubbed a move to the club.
