Michael Laudrup has made his first move into British football after being appointed the new manager of Swansea City. The Denmark legend marked his 48th birthday by signing a two-year contract to succeed Brendan Rodgers at the Liberty Stadium.

Huw Jenkins, the Swansea chairman, was keen to attract a big-name recruit to the club but, more importantly, to secure a manager who would maintain the passing philosophy that earned promotion to the Premier League and a comfortable mid-table finish last term. That style, and the prospect of greater managerial control than he received in Spain and Russia, produced the coup of Laudrup moving to south Wales.

Laudrup's representatives – his agent, Bayram Tutumlu, and the former Newcastle United and Real Mallorca defender, Marcelino – arrived at the Liberty Stadium on Friday morning to finalise the contract and the former title-winner with Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid will be officially unveiled at the Liberty Stadium next week.

He said: "I've spoken to the chairman and I'm very pleased to sign for Swansea City. It's going to be a new experience for me and I'm really looking forward to it. I've spoken to many people about Swansea and watched a number of their games on DVD. Everyone knows the style of football Swansea play and it suits my way of thinking."

Jenkins held several conversations with Laudrup after losing Rodgers to Liverpool just over a fortnight ago, including while on holiday in Cyprus. Several candidates were considered for the task of developing the style that has brought such success under Rodgers and Roberto Martínez, including Ian Holloway, the Blackpool manager, Brighton's Gus Poyet, and Graeme Jones, their former assistant manager and now No2 at Wigan Athletic. Marcel Desailly was also approached but, having only recently started his Uefa coaching licence, claimed the opportunity had arrived too soon.

"We are delighted with the appointment," Jenkins said. "Michael has a clear picture and understanding of what we require at Swansea City to build on the good work and strides we have made over the last few years as a football club. There is no doubt about his standing as one of the game's greatest footballers, but we also see the qualities he has as a manager.

"Everyone I've spoken to about Michael during the appointment process can't speak highly enough about him, not just as a football man, but as a person. I'm confident that Michael will prove a fantastic acquisition that will help keep this football club moving forward."

Laudrup enjoyed a fine start to his coaching career with the Danish national team, Brondby and Getafe, only to encounter problems at Spartak Moscow and Real Mallorca, where the dismissal of his assistant, Erik Larsen, prompted his resignation in September.

An early test for the new Swansea manager will be to persuade Gylfi Sigurdsson to complete a club record £6.8m move from Hoffenheim, although the Iceland midfielder is expected to rejoin Rodgers at Liverpool. Swansea agreed the transfer, and personal terms with Sigurdsson, just days before their former manager departed for Anfield and there has been no contact from the player or his representatives since.

The Liverpool manager has confirmed his interest in bringing the 22-year-old to Merseyside but insists Swansea should have opportunity to complete the proposed transfer before his move develops. Rodgers, who has an agreement not to sign any Swansea players for the next 12 months, said: "First and foremost, Gylfi is a Hoffenheim player. I took him on loan for the second half of last season and he did very well. He scored seven goals and made a real, positive contribution.

"I wanted to sign him for Swansea but, like I've said to him and his representatives, that has to be his first port of call. If he comes into the market for whatever reason – and I'm sure there'll be a number of clubs interested in Gylfi – then of course I would like to be in a position to put our case here at Liverpool to sign him. But I've always said, I think he's a player Swansea have had an agreement with and they have to have every chance to try and sign him. That's only right. If anything changes from that, we'll look at it from there."