Swansea eye Barnsley's Michael Duff to succeed Saints-bound Russell Martin
- Published
Michael Duff spent spent eight years as a centre-back at Cheltenham and 12 more at Burnley
Barnsley manager Michael Duff is a target for Swansea City as they eye up a replacement for Russell Martin.
Martin is set to leave the Swans to take over at Southampton after their relegation from the Premier League.
Despite that move being held up by a compensation wrangle, Championship side Swansea have identified a number of potential successors.
Duff, 45, is high on Swansea's list with the Welsh club believed to have made initial contact with Barnsley.
There are still other possible candidates still the frame for the side that finished 10th under Martin last year, with Swansea having also shown interest in Plymouth's Steven Schumacher and former Celtic and Leicester assistant manager Chris Davies.
But former Northern Ireland international Duff has caught the eye after initial success in leading Cheltenham to the League Two title in 2021.
The former Burnley defender made the switch to League One Barnsley a year ago, going on to lead the Tykes to the play-off final where they lost to Sheffield Wednesday.
Duff has two years remaining on his Oakwell contract meaning Swansea would have to pay compensation if they were to formally act on their interest.
The Welsh club's chiefs are yet to narrow down their search to a preferred candidate.
But they are understood to have held talks with Davies over the possibility of the 38-year-old returning to the club he served as an analyst before following Brendan Rodgers to Liverpool in 2012.
However, the 38-year-old has also been linked with joining Ange Postecoglou's backroom staff at Tottenham.
Swansea had also been linked with former Brugge boss Carl Hoefkens and ex-Southampton and Luton manager Nathan Jones, although neither were said to be in contention for the role.