Swansea make huge Matos breakthrough

SWANSEA City have taken a major step closer to appointing Vitor Matos as their next head coach after deciding to trigger the EUR1million release clause in his Maritimo contract, according to reports in Portugal.

- GLEN WILLIAMS

(Vitor Matos)

The Swans had previously submitted an offer of around EUR500,000, according to JM Madeira, for the 37-year-old, but that bid was rejected by Maritimo, who publicly insisted the full clause would have to be paid for any deal to progress.

Just 24 hours earlier, the Madeiran club had claimed Matos would be staying put, stressing he remained aligned with their sporting project and would only be allowed to leave if Swansea met their demands in full.