<
>

Fernando Llorente 'happy' at Swansea City amid summer exit talk

Swansea striker Fernando Llorente says he is "happy" at the club and is looking forward to next season at the Liberty Stadium.

Llorente, 32, scored 15 Premier League goals for Swansea in his first campaign with the club to help them avoid relegation to the Championship.

Such form has led to speculation that the Spain international will move on in the summer, with Chelsea having been touted as a destination in the past, but he says he will be in a Swansea shirt come next season.

"I'm very happy with my first season in the Premier League," Llorente told BBC Sport. "It's an amazing league, an incredible atmosphere in all the stadiums. And I want to thank our supporters because they are amazing. I'm looking forward to next season with Swansea, I have a contract and I'm happy here."

Llorente hailed the job done by Swansea manager Paul Clement, who guided the club to safety after arriving with them bottom of the table in January.

"We were in a very difficult situation, this [relegation] danger, but our performances in the last matches were amazing," he said. "The job of Paul Clement is amazing. When he arrived, the team was without confidence, down and he was hard, and gave us a lot of confidence. I'm very happy for him, for the team, for the supporters, the club, an amazing club. I'm very happy."

Meanwhile, Swansea have confirmed eight players will leave the club when their contracts expire this summer.

Among the players released are goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel and forward Marvin Emnes.

Tremmel, 38, made only 52 appearances in six seasons at Swansea, but he was part of the side which won the League Cup in 2013 by beating Bradford 5-0 at Wembley.

Emnes had two loan spells at Swansea before eventually joining the club on a permanent basis in 2014. The 28-year-old scored six goals in 36 appearances and spent most of the season on loan at Blackburn in the Championship.

Alex Samuel, who has agreed a two-year deal with Stevenage, Liam Shephard, Josh Vickers, Owain Jones, Tom Dyson and Tom Holland are also leaving the club.

Wales under-21 midfielder Josh Sheehan has been offered a monthly contract. Sheehan, 22, scored seven goals in 25 appearances during a loan spell at Newport this season before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Information from the Press Association was used in this report.