Swansea City manager Russell Martin has suggested that defender Connor Roberts could still depart the Liberty Stadium before the transfer window closes with him heading into the last year of his current deal.

Martin has arrived at Swansea this summer at a time when the club have already lost key players such as Andre Ayew, Marc Guehi and Freddie Woodman from the squad that reached the play-off final last season. While Matt Grimes continues to be heavily linked with a move away from the club.

Roberts was another player that was expected to potentially be of interest to other clubs this summer, but he suffered an injury during Wales’ Euro 2020 campaign and that might have hampered his prospects of finding himself a move elsewhere.

The right-back has been essential to Swansea’s plans for the last few years and he was an instrumental performer for them last season in the Championship and played a vital role in them making it to the play-off final against Brentford.

Speaking to Wales Online, Martin insisted that he is keen for Roberts to stay with the club during his first season in charge but he did confess that despite the injury issues he is facing he could still be sold given his contractual situation.

He said: “I’ve not chatted to Connor because he’s injured but I'm aware he's a fantastic player. It’s a difficult position because for us he’s a player we like and suits what we’re doing, but when someone gets into the last year of their contract, no one's naive.”

The verdict

Losing Roberts would be a huge blow for Martin and Swansea and considering the amount of quality players they have already lost from their squad it is arguably a loss they can not afford.

The right-back’s situation this summer has been further complicated by the injury he picked up on international duty with Wales at the Euros.

However, you would still expect a number of teams to potentially consider taking a risk on signing him this summer if he is available slightly cheaper than he would have been were he under a long-term contract.

Bringing a player of the full-back’s quality in on a cut-price deal would surely have to be an appealing prospect to a host of top Championship and bottom half Premier League sides.

Roberts is a player that will need to show his fitness once again whether he remains with Swansea or makes a move elsewhere, but he is undoubtedly one of the Swans’ most important players and losing him would be a major blow for Martin. Although given these comments you would expect a replacement to have been lined up.