Crystal Palace are ready to come back in for Swansea City manager Steve Cooper this summer after they have missed out on securing the services of Lucien Favre, according to The Sun.
Cooper is a manager in demand this summer after guiding the Swans into the play-offs two seasons in a row despite working with a restricted budget and selling off one or two key members of his squad.
Palace have already previously been heavily linked with a move for the 41-year-old but decided to pursue other targets more recently.
However, the latest report from The Sun outlines that the Eagles are now ready to come back in for Cooper with them having failed to convince former Borussia Dortmund manager Lucien Favre to take the job of replacing Roy Hodgson at Selhurst Park.
The 41-year-old is thought to have a £3 million release fee at Swansea. Football League World believes that has stopped Fulham from making a move for him to replace Scott Parker this summer. That comes after the Championship side were linked with a move for him.
It is thought though that Cooper’s £3 million release fee is not going to put off Crystal Palace and that they would still be keen to make a move for the Swansea boss as they aim to finally get a new manager in place ahead of the start of next season.
The verdict
This is another chapter in the saga around Cooper’s future this summer and Swansea fans will now just be wanting this to be completely resolved one way or the other. The Swans need to start concentrating on their own issues and trying to solve issues in their squad, rather than focusing on whether they will be able to keep hold of their manager.
If Palace now want to get Cooper then they should just pay the £3 million release fee to make it happen, but if not then they should just rule themselves out of the running. It does seem from this update that a move to Fulham is now unlikely if they have balked at the release fee that they would be required to pay to get the 41-year-old.
You can see why teams would be interested in Cooper, but a lot of Swansea fans would not see him as someone that is irreplaceable and they would look at it as a fresh chance to bring in someone that might play a slightly more adventurous style of play next term.