Swansea transfer news: Paul Clement ready to call in favours from big club contacts to sign Bayern Munich defender Holger Badstuber
PAUL CLEMENT is ready to use his big club contacts to try and save Swansea from relegation.
The Swans boss saw his side crash out of the FA Cup against Hull in his first game in charge and the newly-installed manager is now totally focused on the fight for Premier League survival.
And Bayern Munich defender Holger Badstuber has emerged as a potential January signing with Clement not afraid to raid his old clubs.
Clement said: "Over the time I’ve worked I’ve established a lot of relationships and a large network of knowledge and across lots of different clubs.
"And, yes, that includes the clubs I’ve worked at. There are links with the recruitment department at Bayern who could help us, but that’s the period we’re in now where we have to act fast, make calls and contact because we want to see who will be good fits for us – but we also have to be realistic."
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Clement has already gone through the transfer list left by Bob Bradley and Luciano Narsingh is close to making the move to the Liberty Stadium from PSV Eindohoven.
But Clement admitted it would be tough to get players from former clubs Real Madrid and Bayern Munich if clubs with a bigger budget come calling.
Manchester City have also been linked with a move for German international Badstuber.
He added: "I haven’t decided on centre-backs here, but you can take Badstuber as an example, a German national team player who has come through the ranks at Bayern.
"He’s not playing so much at the moment because Javi Martinez, Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels are all ahead for him.
"You can think, ‘he could do a good job here’ but then you see him linked with Manchester City so then you have to ask if it’s a realistic target.
"There’s a reality of where we are, but we can tap contacts to help us look elsewhere.”