Swansea bid for Duplan rejected

Utrecht have turned down a bid from Swansea City for midfielder Edouard Duplan.

The Dutch club claimed a fortnight ago that the Premier League side had expressed interest in the Frenchman and were bracing themselves for a bid.

However, the offer has been rejected by the Eredivisie outfit after the asking price for the 29-year-old was not met.

The Dutch club’s general director, Wilko van Schaik, told RTV Utrecht: ”Swansea made us a bid. We rated it as too low.

“We can use the money but that is not to say we give away our players for bargain fees.”

Duplan won the supporters’ player of the year award last season and is out of contract at the end of the next campaign.

He has appeared just over 30 times for the club, scoring five goals.

Meanwhile, Swansea defender Angel Rangel is confident new manager Michael Laudrup is the right man to continue Brendan Rodgers’ legacy.

The Swans took the Premier League by storm last season, finishing 11th and earning plaudits for their passing football under Rodgers – a success which earned the Northern Irishman the Liverpool job.

Laudrup spent five years as a player at Barcelona, a club with a distinct possession-based ethos, and the 29-year-old defender believes this will help the Dane to fit in.

Rangel told reporters: “The team needed a candidate to continue and Laudrup is the right person. Laudrup and Swansea have found each other.

“He has been at Barca and knows the game in which Swansea is based to some extent. He knows it’s complicated, but we will get there and make it easy if we all pull in the same direction.”