Swansea City boss Russell Martin has revealed he never fell out with Michael Obafemi despite leaving him out of his matchday squad during the latter stages of the player's spell in South Wales, speaking to Wales Online.

The 22-year-old established himself as one of the division's most prolific forwards last term despite a slow start to the 2021/22 campaign, recording 12 goals and three assists in 32 appearances with the player looking as though he was going to be a real asset for the Swans this season.

Scoring just three times in 19 league games though, he hasn't been able to make as much of an impact this term with manager Martin even admitting that the ex-Southampton man hasn't performed well enough during 2022/23.

 

 

Despite this, the Swans' boss still said that there was a chance Obafemi could resurrect his career at the Swansea.com Stadium during the latter stages of last month, but he continued to remain out of the matchday squad.

With this, it looked increasingly likely that he was going to leave the club last month, with Burnley sealing a deal to take him to Turf Moor after reviving their interest in the Republic of Ireland international.

Martin has since gone on to reiterate that the player didn't want to stay in South Wales - but didn't have a spat with the striker despite this.

He said: "I think he knows how much we’ve helped him and I think he’ll be forever grateful for that.

"But if you don't want to be here you don’t want to be here. Personally, I've never fallen out with anyone, it’s not how we work."

The Verdict:

Falling out with a player will only create a bad atmosphere so it's a relief that the pair didn't fall out before his switch to the Clarets, especially with Martin needing to keep morale high during a tricky period.

Their 4-0 victory against Watford shouldn't cover up the fact they haven't been in the best form in recent months, something that has consigned them to a place in midtable at this stage.

There's still a real chance that they could force their way into the play-offs though - and it's just a shame that they don't have Obafemi at their disposal because the likes of the Irishman and Joel Piroe could have fired them into the promotion mix.

They do have Morgan Whittaker at their disposal though and he could be an adequate replacement for Obafemi if he can replicate his performances from his time at Plymouth Argyle earlier this season.

In terms of Obafemi, he will just be glad to have started a new chapter following an underwhelming end to his stay in South Wales. You feel the player would have wanted to leave on a different note though.