Michael Laudrup puts Real Madrid thoughts aside to focus on Bradford

• 72% of Madrid fans want Swansea boss to replace Mourinho
• 'It's not the moment to talk about the future,' says Dane

by Stuart James 2 months ago

Michael Laudrup has refused to talk about his future at Swansea City until after Sunday's Capital One Cup final, with the Dane determined that all the focus should be on facing Bradford City at Wembley, rather than discussing the possibility of signing a longer contract at the Liberty Stadium or speculation linking him with Real Madrid.

Laudrup signed a two-year deal when he took over as Swansea manager in the summer and his agent indicated last week that the two parties are close to agreeing a 12-month extension. At the same time, however, Laudrup is emerging as a strong contender to replace José Mourinho, the Real Madrid manager, in the summer. An online fans' poll conducted by AS, the Madrid-based sports newspaper, found that 72% of the 32,000 people who took part would like to see Laudrup, a former player at the club, appointed next season.

Asked about the possibility of Real Madrid, Laudrup replied: "It's not the moment to talk about the future. We're three days away from one of the biggest games in the history of this club, so to speak about other things would be a little ruthless in this moment. So let's focus on the big thing."

The Swansea manager, who confirmed that Chico Flores would play no part against Bradford after the Spaniard had failed to recover from the ankle injury picked up in the 4-1 win over Queens Park Rangers on 9 February, believes that winning the League Cup would help to change the way Swansea are perceived.

"Winning a trophy would do a lot [to change the image of Swansea]," he said. "It would mean to go into Europe and that would be fantastic [in terms of] what it gives to the club and to the fans and maybe to the outside as well, as players might want to play in the competition. But what we have already done this season is way beyond what we could expect this season – in a cup final and with 37 points with 11 games to go."