Swansea City have been dealt a blow to their hopes of keeping hold of Carl Rushworth as Brighton and Hove Albion boss Roberto De Zerbi confirmed that the goalkeeper will feature in pre-season for the Seagulls.
The Swans had quite a topsy-turvy season. Having had hopes of making a play-off push before the campaign commenced, Michael Duff was relieved of his duties in early December with the club staring down the barrel of a relegation battle in the Championship.
After a few games under caretaker manager Alan Sheehan, the board eventually announced that Notts County boss Luke Williams would be Duff’s permanent successor in the dugout, having previously worked as Russell Martin’s assistant coach at the Swansea.com Stadium.
Williams helped steer Swansea City in the right direction but results were certainly inconsistent over the past few months. The Swans eventually finished in 14th place, seven points above the relegation zone and 16 below the play-offs.
Now, work will begin off the pitch to strengthen the squad in the hopes of potentially reaching the play-offs next season. One player who may not be at the club is Rushworth, who joined on a season-long loan from Premier League side Brighton last summer.
The 22-year-old played every single league game for Swansea City this term, keeping 10 clean sheets in 46 matches. Nevertheless, Brighton boss De Zerbi has stated that Rushworth will play for the Seagulls during pre-season this summer, meaning his future may no longer lie in Wales [quotes via the Sussex World]:
“Beadle and Rushworth are both very good goalkeepers. Maybe in pre-season, we start with both because Bart [Verbruggen] will play in Europe and Tom [McGill] the Copa America with Canada. I will have much time to analyse both.”
Writer’s View
Rushworth is an excellent, young goalkeeper with a huge future. Since he joined Swansea City during the previous summer transfer window, his market value has skyrocketed to £2.5 million compared to £775,000 at the end of last season when he was playing with Lincoln City.
However, staying on the bench at a top-flight club won’t be good for his development right now. The English shot-stopper needs minutes but it seems as though De Zerbi will want to analyse him properly in pre-season before making a judgement on his future.
