Here's your round-up of all the latest Swansea City headlines for Sunday, May 8.
Wolf bids farewell - for now
Hannes Wolf has bid farewell to Swansea City - for the time being at least.
As things stand, Wolf is set to return to parent club Borussia Mönchengladbach, following a successful loan spell at the Swansea.com Stadium. The 23-year-old made 18 appearances for the Swans, netting two goals and earning three assists.
His showings have earned heavy praise from boss Russell Martin, who's made little secret of his desire to bring the Austrian back to the club next term. It remains to be seen what will happen next, particularly given that he has only 12 months left on his current deal.
It's understood Gladbach have the option to extend that deal for another year, and there are clearly some discussions to be had over the summer. For now, though, it seems like this is goodbye, with Wolf taking to his Instagram to thank the club and fans.
"Thank you @swansofficial," he wrote. "A very special club and i really enjoyed the last months here. Special thanks to my team, the coach and the fans."
A number of his team-mates responded to the post, as did Martin himself, who wrote: " An absolute pleasure to have you with us Hannes. Thank you."
Swans move an eye-opener - Williams
Liverpool centre-back Rhys Williams says his loan stay with Swansea was a real "eye-opener".
Williams joined Swansea last summer, with high hopes held for the defender after he broke into Jurgen Klopp's first-team plans at Anfield the season before. But the move really didn't work out, with the youngster featuring a handful of times before the Reds recalled him in January.
“It wasn’t the way I saw it panning out,” he said. “But I’ve tried to take as much as I possibly can from it.
"Football isn’t always going to go the way you want it to, so [Swansea] was an eye-opener to the other side, and it’s making me work even harder to make sure it doesn’t happen to me again.”
Williams also revealed the impact of being subjected to racial abuse when the Swans went to Luton earlier on in the season.
“It really affected me,” he says. “I’d had it before with England when we played Mexico, but this was worse. It was directed straight at me and I could see the intention.
“I’m not going to use it as an excuse, but I didn’t feel in the right frame of mind to be on the pitch for a good few weeks after it.
“I don’t think playing helped me. Unless you’ve experienced it, I don’t think you understand. The worst thing is to be thrown back into the limelight, where everyone is coming up to you saying ‘It’ll be all right.' You just want to be left alone.
“I was low on confidence and my head wasn’t really on football. That’s what I love doing, and if I can’t even do that without this happening, then it’s almost like what’s the point? Where can you go to escape it? You go on a football pitch to compete, to entertain, to make people proud, and this happens. It was a big kick in the teeth, and for a good few weeks I wasn’t enjoying my football anything like as much.”
Smith's message to fans
Korey Smith says he was delighted to get the chance to say goodbye to the Jack Army on Saturday afternoon.
His departure from the Swans was confirmed ahead of the defeat to QPR, which he started from the bench. An injury to Joel Latibeaudiere in the second half meant he was able to come on for one last appearance, with Smith receiving a warm reception from the Jack Army.
“I’m buzzing that I got to come on,” he said afterwards. “I don’t like to see anybody get injured, but I really wanted to come on and say my goodbyes to the fans. I was proud to wear this shirt and I’m so pleased to have come here.
“To get to the play-off final in the first year and contribute and play a lot of games was amazing. And of course, to do the double over Cardiff – to be part of the team that made history for the club and fans, that was just a magical moment."
Although he's set to depart, Smith says he fully intends to keep an eye on the Swans' progress next season, adding that the club are in good hands under Martin.
“The way we play can take a lot of getting used to, but it will come good in the end, I’ve got no doubt about that,” he continued.
“You’ve got a brilliant gaffer and management staff here and obviously, you’ve got really good players. You have to be a bit patient, but I’ve got no doubt in the end [it’ll come good]. Next year, I’ll be looking out for results and hopefully the boys can push on and get promotion.
“The team-mates, the staff – you’re in great hands with the gaffer and I’ll definitely be supporting from afar.”
Sinclair becomes free agent
Former Swansea City striker Scott Sinclair is set to leave Preston North End as a free agent this summer.
The striker took to Instagram to reveal that his two-and-a-half-year stint at Deepdale was over, having previously played around 150 minutes of first-team football since January.
Taking to Instagram, he wrote: “My time has come to an end at the club, I would like to thank the fans and my team mates for the past two and a half years.
“Exciting times ahead my journey continues.”
Cooper 'learned lessons at Swansea'
EFL Quest pundit Ali Maxwell hailed Steve Cooper for developing a 'buccaneering' style of football, adding that the Welshman's experiences at Swansea City have helped provide the driving force behind his success at Nottingham Forest.
Cooper took over from Chris Hughton at the City Ground with Forest languishing at the bottom of the Championship table, but will now begin preparations for his third play-off campaign in as many seasons.
Discussing Cooper's success on the show, Maxwell said: "They seem to love playing for him. Whether it's young players like Brennan Johnson, Djed Spence, or older players like Lewis Grabban and Jack Colback.
"They all seem to like playing under him. He's a great man-manager, a great tactical coach as well. I think he's learned from the Swansea experience too. We're seeing a different style of football. 'Buccaneering' is the word I'd use to describe it."
Carvalhal tipped for Rovers job
Carlos Carvalhal is reportedly among the candidates in the frame to replace Tony Mowbray at Blackburn Rovers.
According to a Patreon report by Alan Nixon, the former Swans boss is a contender to replace Mowbray, with Chris Hughton another name believed to be in the mix.
Daniel Farke was thought to be interested, but reports in the north-west suggest he's holding out for a job in the Bundesliga.
