Swans' interest in Emnes fast fading (From The Advertiser Series)

Swans' interest in Emnes fast fading

3:50pm Friday 31st August 2012 in Sport By Richard Mason, Sports Writer/Sub-Editor

TONY MOWBRAY is not expecting any further interest in Marvin Emnes before the transfer window closes this evening.

Swansea City have courted the Middlesbrough forward throughout the summer, and it was expected that Michael Laudrup would make his move following the sale of Scott Sinclair to Man City.

However, the Swans are in talks to sign winger Pablo Hernandez from Valencia which reduces the likelihood of them coming back for Emnes.

Boro manager Mowbray, who sold Joe Bennett to Aston Villa on Wednesday, does not anticipate any further outgoings - but conceded that if something does happen, he has a contingency plan.

He said: "The phone has to be ringing for Marvin, a few weeks ago there were enquiries but there has been nothing since. I'm not anticipating any late calls unless that's a tactic from certain clubs.

"I don't think that's a wise tactic, because I would suggest we won't be selling as he's a player we would need to replace, and it's getting late in the day.

"I don't think we're going to sign anyone. My job is to make sure all angles are covered, if something dramatic happens today that is right for us, we have targets to look at and utilise any money that may come in. If nothing happens I don't think that will be happening.

"If we sell another player, we might ask questions of other clubs to add to our squad, but if we don't sell another player I don't think there will be anything going on."

Mowbray is confident that Villa's deal for Bennett, 22, was in the best interest of all, and wished the left-back luck for his future career.

"I was very pleased for Joe," said Mowbray. "He's a young boy who when we arrived at the club was on the fringes.

"He's worked hard in 18 months to the point that the phone was ringing for him, from the Premier League. While we don't want to lose our best players, every player has a price.

"The numbers got to the point where I felt it was the right deal for the club, and Joe will go on to play in the best league in the world and showcase his talent.

"We wish him well but we will hopefully be joining him in that league in the not too distant future."

Mowbray, who signed full-back George Friend over the summer, can call upon Andy Halliday, Julio Arca or Justin Hoyte to fill Bennett's position.

He explained: "Just because we've sold a left-back it doesn't mean we have to go and sign a left-back.

"If I didn't feel we had cover we wouldn't have sold Joe Bennett.

"I'm not sitting here thinking we need money, I felt the deal was right for the club, it gives us a bit of headway if we need to add to the squad. It was a good deal for us, a good deal for Joe and a good deal for Aston Villa as well."

Mowbray confirmed that Rhys Williams could be out until Christmas with ankle ligament damage sustained in the Capital One Cup victory at Gillingham, and accepted that he may need to strengthen his defence, possibly with the signing of centre-half Andre Amougou who is on trial at the club.

He said: "We'll assess over the next day or two whether we need to add another body into the area.

"That doesn't mean we would necessarily buy someone, there are a lot of free agents out there who haven't got clubs that the transfer window does not hold any significance for."