• Capital One Cup final

Michu pleads with Laudrup to stay

Michael Laudrup has led Swansea to their first major silverware less than a year into the job © Getty Images

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Swansea City forward Michu has urged manager Michael Laudrup to ignore any other job offers and spearhead the Welsh club's European campaign next season.

Laudrup watched on from the Wembley touchline on Sunday as Michu was among the scorers in the 5-0 crushing of Bradford City in the Capital One Cup final.

That victory brought Swansea their first ever piece of major silverware and booked them a place in next season's Europa League, the club's first entry into continental competition since 1991.

However, the Swans may struggle to keep hold of their Danish coach this summer with him being linked to several big jobs including Real Madrid, where he won a Spanish league title as a player.

Laudrup will reach the midway point of his current two-year deal this summer and, with the 48-year-old's agent having said earlier this month that talks over a new deal will open soon, Michu has voiced his hopes that the boss stays at the Liberty Stadium.

"The gaffer here has done great in his first season, but I have gone up to Michael and said, 'Stay with us now we are in Europe'," the player Laudrup signed for just £2 million from Rayo Vallecano in the summer said.

"I know other people will want him. He is really good, doing really well and maybe he can go with another club, but I hope he will stay here.

"We are growing up really fast and it is always difficult for a club of our size to win a trophy, but I think now we are going to play in Europe we can bring in some very good players and can be a stronger team next season."

Laudrup has spent much of his footballing career in Spain, having represented Real Madrid and Barcelona as a player and managed Getafe and Real Mallorca.

After Sunday's win at Wembley he told Spanish radio that he would like to return to La Liga one day, but that he is enjoying his time in the Premier League at the moment.

"I will surely return to Spain, but I do not know when," he said. "I have a house in Majorca. It is a pleasure when people appreciate you. Speaking about the future is very difficult. You never know what will happen. Things can change radically in a few months. We will see what happens in June or July. The truth is, at the moment, I do not know.

"I like the league here. I have lived many years in Spain as a player and then as a coach. It is almost my second home. But I like the experience here. I like the league, it is completely different, but I like it."

Swansea are well used to having promising young coaches lured away, having lost Roberto Martinez to Wigan in 2009 - when the Swans were still in the Championship - and seen Brendan Rodgers leave for Liverpool last summer just a year after guiding the Welsh side up to the top flight via the play-offs.

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