Carlos Carvalhal has claimed only a bid of £50m would tempt Swansea City into selling key defender Alfie Mawson. The England Under 21 centre-back has been heavily linked with Watford and West Ham in the January transfer window, while Celtic and Everton are also reportedly interested in the 23-year-old Londoner. Swansea signed Mawson from Barnsley for £5m in August 2016 and he has two-and-a-half-years left on his contract at the Liberty Stadium.

Connor Roberts is aiming for a Swansea City debut at Newcastle on Saturday as the club continue to consider a move for Fulham full-back Ryan Fredericks. Roberts, 22, made his first team bow in last week’s FA Cup draw at Wolves and could be the solution again for manager Carlos Carvalhal with Kyle Naughton suspended and Angel Rangel out injured. The Swans are anxious to strengthen their full-back options in the January transfer window and are keen on Championship defender Fredericks, who has been rated at between £3m and £5m.

Alfie Mawson has pledged his future to relegation-threatened Swansea City, despite being a £25m target for West Ham. The England U21 centre-back is wanted by Hammers manager David Moyes and has previously interested both Spurs and Southampton. But Mawson, 23, insists his priority is to stick with the suffering Swans during this transfer window and make sure they are still in the Premier League at the end of the season.

Swansea City’s American owners have announced plans to increase their shareholding in the Premier League club have been shelved. A consortium led by businessmen Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien purchased a 68 percent majority shareholding in 2016. They had planned to increase their stake by purchasing shares from the Swansea City Supporters Trust — who own 21.1 percent of the club — but those talks have now been put on hold amid the Swans’ relegation battle.

Central midfielder Sam Clucas was among the first of the Swans’ players to hail the impact of new manager Carlos Carvalhal since his arrival little over a week ago. And a revelation made by the Portuguese man during his weekly media duties suggests a mutual respect and admiration for each other, long before the manager left the South Yorkshire club on Christmas Eve and was appointed at the Liberty just four days later.

Tom Carroll will flourish at Swansea City with a little tender, loving care, according to manager Carlos Carvalhal. The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder has been a target for fans’ frustrations in recent weeks – criticism that reached a new level of intensity in the 2-0 defeat to his old club on Tuesday. Carroll was booed and jeered repeatedly by some supporters at the Liberty Stadium and the 25-year-old appeared affected by the treatment as he sought to offload possession with minimal risks.

If history is anything to go by then Saturday’s FA Cup third round tie between Championship leaders Wolves and Premier League strugglers Swansea City should be full of goals. The two teams have met twice before in the FA Cup with the Swans hoping to make it third time lucky against a side currently ranked only one place below them in the league rankings. Their first meeting was at the Vetch on 8 January, 1938, and their last clash was at Molineux on 5 January, 1957.

Carlos Carvalhal has admitted he will be fishing for small fry when he casts Swansea City’s net in the January transfer waters. The Swans manager will hold further talks with chairman Huw Jenkins to determine how heavily he can bait the hook, but the Portuguese had a characteristically colourful metaphor to illustrate how he does not expect to be given much cash. Carvalhal evoked memories of Eric Cantona’s famous “when the seagulls follow the trawler” address in 1995 when he compared Swansea’s forthcoming transfer activity to buying fish.

Carlos Carvalhal believes his words of wisdom – delivered in English – are finally helping to tap the potential of his fellow Portuguese star Renato Sanches. Swansea City manager Carvalhal witnessed another improved performance from Sanches, despite the club suffering another damaging defeat at home to Tottenham on Tuesday night as they lost 2-0 – a result which leaves them at the bottom of the Premier League and four points from safety. But Sanches was at the heart of most of the Swans’ better periods and his energy and drive from midfield in the second-half almost sparked a recovery before Dele Alli’s late goal – doubling the Spurs lead given by former Swans striker Fernando Llorente – killed off those hopes.

Former Swansea City Supporters Trust chairman Phil Sumbler has accused Rob Davies of trying to de-stabilise the club following his attack on the fans organisation. In an interview with Dai Sport on New Year’s Day, ex-shareholder Davies criticised the Trust for “trying to break the club” and suggested the Swans could soon go the way of Blackburn Rovers under controversial owners, Venky’s unless fans backed current chairman Huw Jenkins. But Sumbler – who stood down from the Supporters Trust six weeks ago and has since formed the Swansea City Supporters Alliance – has rejected Davies’s claims.

Carlos Carvalhal is already playing the percentages pretty well in his first week in charge at Swansea City. In last Thursday’s press conference after being confirmed as the Swans’ fifth manager in two years, Carvalhal said he believed that if you asked 100 people if the club will be relegated at the end of the season then all 100 would agree. After winning his opening game 2-1 win at Watford on Saturday he reckoned that number might have dropped to 98. If they can back up that win at Vicarage Road with a first win over Spurs in the Premier League then the believers might come flooding back.

Former shareholder Rob Davies fears Swansea City could follow in the footsteps of Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool and Wigan and tumble down the leagues if the fans don’t start getting behind the team and the board. Davies sold his shares for £9m last year when the American consortium took control and has looked on in dismay ever since as in-fighting and poor results have steered the club to the bottom of the Premier League. But Davies, who invested £50,000 on the morning of the crisis match against Hull City in 2001 and then added a further tranche of £50,000 afterwards, believes relegation is the least of the clubs problems.