Your Swansea City headlines on Friday, December 16.
Young gun needs senior football
Russell Martin says Azeem Abdulai could be sent out on loan in January having proven his worth in youth football.
The 20-year-old made his senior bow in the Swans' Carabao Cup clash with Oxford United earlier this season and has been a key figure for the club's under-21s.
However, Martin has suggested that Abdulai - who recently put pen to paper on fresh terms to remain at the club until at least 2025 - now needs to secure a temporary move away from the club in order to take his development to the next level.
READ MORE: How Swansea City's January transfer window could look as priority identified and two exits expected
"Azeem, he needs to play men's football," Martin told WalesOnline. "He's at that stage of his development where he needs to play senior football.
"He's played a lot in the under-21s and has been a really top performer, but he needs to go somewhere and play every week where it really matters. It'll help his development hugely, as it did with Ollie Cooper last season.
"But, again, it's about finding the right one and not just sending him out for the sake of it, particularly the way we want him to play and operate. We'll have to wait and see what comes there. The ideal situation is that he gets a good loan option and he can go and play some really competitive senior football."
Jenkins keen for football return
Huw Jenkins admits he's eager to return to football following his Swansea City exit in 2019.
Jenkins left his role as club chairman of the Swans almost four years ago and is currently working for a sports management agency.
However, the 59-year-old has confirmed he still harbours hopes of running a football club in his career.
"I'd love that opportunity," he told The Price of Football podcast. "I still feel I gained a lot of experience and I'd love to do that.
"Whether I get that opportunity, I can honestly say I've not had a call from anybody yet to offer me a job.
"I've been out of football since 2019, I know we've had Covid and the downtime in between, but I'd love an opportunity to get back into football and to try to put some of the things I learned in that time into operation somewhere else, and even by helping other people along. Those challenges, I'm still motivated for and I'd love to do them."
Obafemi improving but no risks to be taken
Russell Martin admits Michael Obafemi's fitness has significantly improved in the last week, although the striker may be held back for the clash with Coventry City.
Obafemi sustained an injury while on international duty with Republic of Ireland a month ago and was unavailable for the 1-0 defeat to Norwich City last weekend.
And while the forward was pictured in Swansea's training session on Thursday, Martin admits the 22-year-old needs to be in a position where he fully trusts his body before being thrust back into the limelight.
"He's back on the grass," said Martin of the frontman. "He's in a much better place than he was, physically. We've got to build him up and get him properly fit.
"He may be a possibility for this weekend. I think we probably need to take more of a longer term view on that.
"We'll have a discussion in the morning (on Friday). His data has been really good this week compared to where it was last week, there's been a big jump. He looks in a much better place.
"It's about how he trusts his body and where he's at in the stage of rehab."
Swansea have no other fresh injury concerns ahead of the clash with Coventry.
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McBurnie issues statement
Oli McBurnie has voiced his frustration at having to go through court proceedings after being found not guilty of assault.
The former Swans ace was charged with assaulting fan George Brinkley after Sheffield United's Championship play-off semi-final clash with Nottingham Forest earlier this year.
McBurnie was cleared of beating at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on Thursday, and the striker swiftly took to Twitter and Instagram to thank those who supported him through his ordeal.
"Been a mad few months, had to hold my tongue and hear a lot of lies told about me," he wrote on social media. "Over the moon with the outcome in court today, although I'm not quite sure how it got that far.
"I will come out and say a lot more when the dust settles but what I can say for now is thank you to my team for their hard work and everyone for the ongoing support. The truth always comes out in the end."
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