Swansea City striker Fernando Llorente insists he is happy at the club, despite being linked with a return to Serie A just months after joining the Welsh side.

Llorente was left out of the matchday squad to face Everton, but came off the bench to score twice in stoppage time to secure a 5-4 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The striker hasn’t been in great form since his move to South Wales, and there had been some rumours that he would want a return to Italy, as he previously played there for Juventus.

What did Llorente say?

“I am very happy here. It is difficult for me because of the language, I would like to speak well, but I need to continue to study,” said Llorente.

He revealed he had been struggling with a knee injury since he joined the club.

“After my injury I lost my performance level, but I always kept working in training and the coach sees this.”

He also commented on the two goals being very important for his confidence, and that he feels like he has helped the team.

Meeting with Bob Bradley

In his post-match press conference, Swansea manager Bob Bradley said that headlines had been “twisted” and that people had made a story out of something that isn’t accurate.

The American also revealed that he had a good conversation with Llorente, where the pair agreed that he wasn’t at the level that they both knew he could reach.

Bradley said: “The conversation we had was so professional and neither one of us got bent out of shape by the way it was twisted in the press.”

Going forward

Swansea face a trip to Tottenham Hotspur next weekend, a game where they will surely need an outlet.

Bradley may be forced to change his shape from the strikerless system that has started the last two games.

A midfielder could be sacrificed in order to put Llorente up front, or Wayne Routledge could make way so Gylfi Sigurdsson can play on the left, Bradley can keep the three-man-midfield and have an outlet in Llorente up front.

The Spanish striker could really stake his claim to be Swansea first-choice striker, as Borja Baston seems out of favour. Baston wasn’t in the matchday squad to face Palace, as youngster Oliver McBurnie was picked ahead of Swansea’s record signing.

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About the author
Jack Mceachen
Sports Journalist in Staffordshire University.