Swansea City manager Steve Cooper says he is very proud to be in charge of the Welsh club when asked about the links to the vacant Derby County job, Wales Online report.
The Rams are on the lookout for a new manager after Phillip Cocu’s exit.
Derby currently sit at the bottom of the Championship table with one win from 11 games.
But with prospective new owners set to take over, it could be an exciting new era at Pride Park with ambitions to become an established Premier League club.
Cooper is one of those linked with the vacant Derby job. The Swansea manager, however, refused to comment and reiterated his stance at the Welsh side.
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I’m not one for, with respect, reading and looking at media. That’s a strategy I’ve taken in this role. There’s certainly no comment from me on it [the Derby job], that’s for sure. At the moment I’m working for Swansea, I’m very proud to be here. I enjoy the job and I feel very obliged to give more than the best I can.
Cooper took over the Swansea job after Graham Potter’s exit in 2019.
The former England youth coach guided the Swans to the playoffs last season, and the Swans will have ambitions to go one further this time around.
Some may question why Cooper would even contemplate moving to Derby. In the short-term, it makes little sense given where both clubs are in the table.
That said, Derby boast one of the best academies in England while Swansea are in the final year of their parachute payments with a squad heavily backed by loans.
If Swansea fail to secure promotion this season, it will get tougher for them.
Derby, on the other hand, have halved their wage bill since 2019 while in Lee Buchanan (19), Jason Knight (19), Max Bird (20), Louie Sibley (19), Morgan Whittaker (19), Krystian Bielik (22) and Kamil Jozwiak (22), they have the core of a team with enormous potential.
Also see: Three Derby players who may immediately suffer from Cocu exit, including £5m ace
Also see: Manager with ‘definite similarities’ to Pep Guardiola reportedly now leading Derby candidate