Swansea City Left-Back Martin Olsson Hails His Gamble to Join Paul Clement's Side

Swansea City’s defender Martin Olsson has publicly expressed his delight in seeing his gamble to join the Welsh side pay off – the Swedish international joined the Swans from Championship side Norwich City in last January’s transfer window, despite Paul Clement’s side being in the relegation zone at the time.

Speaking to swanseacity.net, the left-back discussed the risk he took in joining the side, and expressed his delight in the move being a success:

“Coming to Swansea has paid off. I knew it was a risk coming here but I thought when i joined that Swansea had the quality to be higher up the table. I knew Swansea were a club known for playing good football and I had high hopes that we would stay up. Now we have done that”.

The 29-year-old Swede was a key player in the Swans’ dramatic escape from relegation to the Championship; surviving the drop by seven points. The combative defender is no stranger to the English Premier League, having also previously played for Blackburn Rovers and Norwich City in the competition. Olsson has represented his country on 40 occasions, and secured a place in Sweden’s Euro 2012 squad.

Turning his attention to next season’s action, Olsson said:

“This is a good team to be part of. Our aim now is to finish higher up the table next season. We aim for more next season. We have the ambition to be better. 

“When you look at our form since January, we would be a lot higher in the table if the season had started then. Next year we will look to carry on the form we have shown in the second half of this season. If we do that, it should be a good season.”

Olsson also spoke of his relationship with Paul Clement, who coached the player at Blackburn Rovers briefly in the 2011-2012 season. Olsson admitted:

“I have enjoyed it here. The gaffer has worked us hard in training by that’s what I like because it pays off on the pitch. We showed how together we are as a squad during what was a difficult period for us. The gaffer had a plan he wanted us to follow, in terms of keeping possession and the runs we make, and it worked for us.”