Leon Britton: 'Legend' could manage Swansea one day, says Paul Clement

Paul Clement and Leon Britton
Leon Britton joined Swansea on loan from West Ham in December, 2002 as a 20-year-old under one of Paul Clement's predecessors, Brian Flynn

Head coach Paul Clement believes Swansea City "legend" Leon Britton could one day manage the club.

Midfielder Britton became Swansea's assistant coach following Claude Makalele's departure to take charge of Belgian side KAS Eupen.

He will continue playing and could figure at Burnley on Saturday, as Wilfried Bony, Martin Olsson and Renato Sanches return from injury.

Asked if Britton could one day manage the Swans, Clement said: "Why not?"

He added: "First of all he has that great backing as a very good player.

"During his playing time he has been doing his coaching licences. He is at the A level at the moment.

"He has been thinking for some time about when his playing time actually does come to an end, he would like to move into coaching.

"And that is a good step to make. From that point you are going to have a very good idea of whether you want to be a manager or a head coach."

Britton, who initially joined Swans on a one-month loan almost 15 years ago, said it was too early to say whether he would eventually be a manager anywhere, let alone Swansea.

"It is something that interests me, yes of course, it is something that maybe, in the future down the line, I might do.

"I think I need a lot of experience before going into that side [of the game]."

Britton would not confirm if it would be his last season as a player.

"[It's] difficult to say," he said.

"As time goes by this season, we will see how things go in terms of how much I am playing and what the manager's thoughts are and what my thoughts are.

"Then I will come to a decision at the end if there is not another playing extension."

Swans' triple fitness boost

Swansea, second from bottom, will be bolstered by the return from injury of striker Bony, Portuguese midfielder Sanches and left back Olsson.

Defender Olsson has missed the last two Premier League games with a hamstring problem.

Bony has not featured since the end of September because of a hamstring injury while Sanches has missed the last three games with a thigh problem.

Both have yet to make significant impacts since their summer arrivals and Clement said: "Wilfred and Renato have been extremely frustrated.

Roberto Sanches and Wilfried Bony
Wilfried Bony replaces Renato Sanches in Swans' 1-0 defeat by Newcastle on 10 September, 2017

"Renato came in, he had some indifferent performances - some good, some not so good - even within a game.

"Then he picked up that injury and was desperate to be involved in the Brighton fixture, but it was just a little bit too soon.

"He is raring to go and in a similar situation to Wilfried. It's been a very frustrating period for him.

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"He wanted to come back here and hit the ground running, start off where he left off a couple of years ago when he was scoring goals and contributing. That has not been the case so far."

Defender Kyle Bartley is the only player not available because of injury for the Burnley game, which will be watched by one of the club's joint American owners Steven Kaplan.