Vitor Matos' Swansea rounded off pre-season preparations by beating Leganes on Saturday. Matos says the Premier League is "always the goal" after extending his stay at Swansea City until 2030, but the Swansea head coach says the immediate focus is to compete with the Championship's top sides rather than setting promotion targets.
What does Matos see as the aim at Swansea?
The Swans are preparing for a ninth straight second-tier campaign after being relegated from the top flight in 2018. After taking charge last November, Matos has signed a new contract which means he can look forward to four full seasons at the Swansea helm.
When asked whether a Premier League return is his target, Matos said:
"When the club have ambition, when the owners have ambition, when the managers have ambition, when the players have ambition, I think that's always the goal.
"But at the same time, the most important thing is what we can do every day.
"It doesn't matter if I come here and I say, 'yeah, the goal is to go to the Premier League when I'm here for four seasons' if we don't work with that mentality every day."
How did Swansea finish last season?
Swansea ended 2025-26 in 11th having eased relegation concerns thanks to a significant upturn in form following Matos' appointment. It was a fifth successive mid-table finish for the Welsh club, who have not mounted a serious promotion push since Steve Cooper's team were beaten in the 2021 play-off final by Brentford.
What has the club done in the transfer market?
Having been among the Championship's biggest spenders in the 2025 close season, Swansea's hierarchy have once again shown ambition this summer. The club are believed to have spent in the region of £15m on Elijah Just, Joseph Opoku and Moussa Yeo, while Stephen Welsh has signed on a free transfer.
They are also working on deals for a left-back and central midfielder and may look to add another centre-back before the window closes.
"The focus is improving the team, improving the players, put the team in a level that we can compete against everyone," Matos added.
"There are strong teams [in the Championship] with a lot in terms of budget and a lot of expectations.
"So it doesn't mean that we need to be the best team, but it means that we need to be able to compete against everyone and be able to win against everyone.
"That's the good thing about sports. You don't need to be the best one, but you need to be able to beat the best one. That's what we want to be."
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