Sometimes a picture paints a thousand words, and you had to smile when Swans head coach Michael Duff was asked a direct question regards his captain Matt Grimes and his future at the club. Fielding questions as Grimes was about to sign a new and extended contract regards his transfer away from the club, Duff’s face was a picture.

On several occasions this website has reflected on the maturity of Matt Grimes as Swansea City captain, and as a player with a stable life behind the scenes. We published our last piece on Grimes in June of this year as Southampton’s interest in him was highlighted to us by several sources.

You can read that report below.
Matt Grimes Feature

In every feature that carries the topic of Matt Grimes and his family it’s clear that this part of his life is the most effective when making decisions on his future. In fact the report above was met with some derision in certain quarters, especially from those who don’t know the man and his commitment to a stable family life.

Knowing that the Saints have gone further in their pursuit than just a phone call or two, and that Grimes has remained non committal on leaving Swansea, it seemed an odd question for the Swans skipper to be asked on Thursday. The look from Duff was a mixture of a man perplexed to complete surprise. He composed himself well to answer the question but a slight smile seemed to almost give the game away.

We know now that this was possibly the last sort of Grimes question Duff was expecting, especially as we already knew as an independent website that Grimes was talking to the club. If we knew that, then surely the wider media would as well ? That’s potentially the answer to Duff’s surprised look this week, it was the last thing he expected to hear !

With a new contract extension already signed and made official by the club last evening it’s a ringing endorsement of what is happening behind the scenes at Swansea City as well. Three months or so in to Russell Martin’s tenure Grimes signed a new deal and now having seen what the new Duff regime is potentially all about he has repeated that scenario.

Of course to be able to command the attention of the club and the salary as well you have to have specific skills to sell over a longer term. Matt Grimes has that in abundance, he has seen many managers come and go over his time at the club, and has signed up to all of them. His stability as we have always stated is key, and that’s been proven yet again. He’s here until 2027 for sure, the captain, the midfield glue and most importantly happy family man.

It’s a match made in heaven.

Photographs licensed from Reuters and Open Source

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