Swansea City head coach Vitor Matos has insisted that Zan Vipotnik's future at the club has not been affected by the arrival of Ross Stewart, and he is content to have three senior strikers for the upcoming season.
Stewart completed a free transfer to the Swans on Thursday, becoming the club's sixth new signing of the window. He has signed a three-year deal, and his capture is seen as a significant statement of intent given his Championship pedigree.
Stewart scored 11 goals in 33 appearances in all competitions for Southampton last season. His arrival has inevitably sparked questions over Vipotnik's future, with clubs in England and Europe reportedly interested in the Slovenian.
No offers on the table
As things stand, there is nothing on the table from any interested party, and Matos has not ruled out keeping all three strikers on board.
“I think one thing we tried is to increase the competition or the healthy competition inside of the squad,” he said. “I think that's what we've done. There's a lot of challenges, a lot of games to come, a lot of competitions as well to participate in and I think having a squad with depth in all positions was quite important for us.”
“It's something that we felt last season in some moments was a little bit tricky. I still remember when I was sitting here in December everyone asked why we only had Zan Vipotnik as a striker and I needed I think maybe three press conferences to try to justify it. So now I'm justifying the opposite.”
Nothing changed
Regarding what Stewart's arrival means for Vipotnik, Matos added: “Nothing changed with the signing of Ross. We signed Ross because we believe it was an opportunity for us to catch a player with that type of profile.”
“[There's] no news [on Vipotnik]. The only thing I can add is that it is an important part of the pre-season around 10-12 days. On the last friendly he played 20 minutes so he's getting back again. That's the only thing I can update on.”
