Brendan Rodgers believes Swansea has to strengthen in the summer if they are to continue to be a success in the Premier League.
'We cannot stand still' insists Swans boss
Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers believes the club has to strengthen in the summer if they are to continue to be a success in the Premier League.
The Welsh club have enjoyed a fine return to England's top flight, impressing not only with their results but their attractive style of play.
Their 3-0 win against Blackburn last week moved the club into 12th place on 42 points, with just two more points needed to mathematically seal safety.
With survival all but secured thoughts may begin to drift towards the summer as Rodgers looks to ensure this season is not a one-off.
With loanees Steven Caulker and Gylfi Sigurdsson set to return to their parent clubs, Swansea will be shorn of two key players straight away.
Rodgers insists the club has to dip into the transfer market this summer not only to replace departing players but to add to the squad, or risk being overtaken by their Premier League rivals.
Strengthen
"There's no doubt we need to see if we can strengthen for next year," The 39-year-old told the
South Wales Evening Post.
"The players we brought in last summer have been fantastic, but what we did then was about replacing the ones we had lost.
"We will obviously need to replace Steven Caulker and we will see what happens with Gylfi Sigurdsson. But we want to strengthen the group this year.
"The key this year if we are to move forward again is that we have to keep improving and developing the squad, because the Premier League is a place where you cannot stand still.
"I am very much about constructing and building and always looking to improve what we have got.
"To do that we need to retain the players we have and also bring in three, four or five who can really give us that freshness and challenge for positions in the team.
Targets
"Our scouting team and (chief scout) David Leadbitter are working hard along with the chairman and myself in terms of identifying targets."
A win at the Reebok Stadium against Bolton on Saturday is enough to secure survival with three games to spare, a fine achievement for a club many tipped to struggle last August.
Rodgers insists though that he will not let his players rest on their laurels and is determined to see his side finish the season in a high.
"We have four games left starting at Bolton and we want to finish the season as strongly as possible," he added.
"We are determined to finish well and to finish as high we possibly can in the table."
