Franco poised for welcome Swansea return

Goncalo Franco was Swansea's player of the year in 2024-25 [Getty Images] Vitor Matos says Swansea City are about to welcome back a key player with Goncalo Franco in contention to make a first appearance of the season at the weekend. Midfielder Franco has been sidelined since suffering an ankle ligament injury in pre-season. But the 25-year-old is fit to play some part when Burnley visit Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday (15:00 BST). "Franco is a really important player for us, he was a really important player last season," said Swansea head coach Matos. "He has a lot of things that are important for us in terms of our game and in terms of identity. Now it's about step by step being fitter and then [we can] use him when we believe it's the right time." Franco has been an influential figure since arriving from Portuguese club Moreirense in the summer of 2024, scoring six goals in 91 appearances during two seasons at Swansea. His return to fitness leaves the Swans with strong options in central midfield, where the likes of Marko Stamenic, Jay Fulton, Melker Widell and new recruit Stephen Eustaquio have impressed in the early stages of this season. When it was suggested that Matos is spoiled for choice in that area of the pitch, he said: "Yeah, that's good because I cannot get it wrong." Franco returns to a Swansea squad looking for a response after suffering their first league defeat of the season at Southampton in midweek. They have lost Eom Jisung since the Saints defeat because the winger has joined up with South Korea for the Asian Games, while Scotland striker Ross Stewart remains on the sidelines because of a quad injury. With Eom absent, Manchester City teenager Jeremy Monga could feature in a matchday squad for the first time since joining Swansea on loan earlier this month. "He's a really young player with a lot of potential who arrived when we have a lot of a lot of games in a short period of time, which is hard because you need to adapt and adjust to our ideas," Matos said. "I think he's understanding what the values and the non-negotiable parts regarding our style are. Step by step he's getting into it and then we hope we can really take the best out of him." Latest Swansea City news, analysis and fan views Listen to the latest Swansea City interviews, news and discussion on BBC Sounds