Swansea City’s caretaker manager Alan Tate has insisted that Matt Grimes’ absence from the Swans’ pre-season friendly against Forest Green Rovers was due to injury and not transfer-related.

Grimes’ future at the Liberty Stadium is in doubt this summer and it had been reported by the Daily Mail that Fulham were closing in on a potential move for the midfielder.

That came after previous reports had suggested that both Fulham and Bournemouth were set to compete for the midfielder’s signature this summer.

While both Newcastle United and Southampton have also been linked with a potential move for Grimes as well.

Football Insider have now reported that both Watford and Brighton have entered the race for Grimes’ signature as well this summer. However, Wales Online have revealed that at this point in the window there has been no concrete offers for the midfielder.

Speaking to Wales Online, Tate insisted that Grimes’ absence from the Swans’ pre-season friendly against Forest Green on Wednesday was down to just an injury issue. While he also stated that Swansea plan for him to be available for their opening match of the new campaign.

He said: "He's had a knock. He was left out of the game tonight through precaution.

"Nothing other than that. He's in contention to play at Blackburn.

"I think he'll be back in training with us, if not tomorrow, hopefully Friday.

"At the minute, the plan is for Grimesy to be, hopefully involved in the Southampton game. If not, it looks like he could be involved in the Blackburn game. We're definitely planning at the minute to have him involved in the Blackburn game."

The verdict

This update offers some hope for Swansea and suggests that Grimes’ departure from the club might not yet be as certain to happen as has been reported recently.

Having been left out of the pre-season friendly against Forest Green, it was always likely that there was going to be speculation that he could be set for an imminent exit from the Liberty Stadium.

However, it now seems that the midfielder is going to be able to potentially be involved in their next pre-season friendly or even their opening match of the new Championship season. That is not something that would likely to happen if a move for Grimes was going to be imminent.

The midfielder’s future still seems to be away from Swansea this summer and they need to sort out a resolution to that either way as soon as possible because it is a major distraction for them heading into the new campaign.

Tate though seems to think that there will not be anything resolved in the immediate future at this stage.