Flores To Be Laudrup's First Swansea Signing?

Both Wales Online and Evening Post are reporting that defender Chico Flores looks set to become Michael Laudrup's first Swansea City signing.

The new manager has been busy assessing his current players in the past two weeks and therefore no new signings were expected early on, as he determines where he needs to strengthen his squad.

The 48 year-old appears to be keen to boost his defensive options as it looks highly unlikely that Steven Caulker will be back for a second successive season long loan at the Liberty Stadium. The 19 year-old was impressive last year and he'll leave a big gap to fill in defence.

Reports suggest that Laudrup has had a fee of around £2.5m agreed with Genoa for the centre back, and he is apparently close to completing a switch to the South Wales club.

Laudrup worked with Flores when he signed on loan at Mallorca and he is keen to work with him again in the Premier League. He helped Mallorca to achieve one of the best defensive records in La Liga last season if you discount Barcelona and Real Madrid, and they'll be disappointed if they miss the opportunity to sign the 25 year-old on a permanent basis.

While Laudrup looks to strengthen his defence, skipper Garry Monk has been linked with a move to Bristol City, though it does seem unlikely somehow that he'd leave the Liberty Stadium just yet.

There doesn't seem to be any reports elsewhere of Flores' expected signing, as normally you'd expect a host of rumours and speculation across various social networking and message forums. Though the local media seem confident that Flores will complete a switch to Swanse City soon.

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