Swans skipper taking interest as a compliment.
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Swansea City defender Ashley Williams has said that he is flattered by the recent interest shown in him by Arsenal, but it keeping his feet on the ground by focussing on the new campaign with his current club, Sky Sports reports.
The Welsh international replaced Gary Monk as the club captain and his performances last season have caught the attentions of the north London side, who have been said to be interested following an injury to Thomas Vermaelen.
And though he is taking the interest as a compliment, he is refusing to get carried away by the rumours and is instead deciding to focus on the upcoming campaign with Swansea.
“It means you’re doing something right and people are talking about you at least,” Williams told Sky Sports News in response to the rumours.
“I take it as a compliment. I don’t really read the papers and that type of thing. You don’t really know, as that’s the future, and I can’t really say. Different circumstances determine different things.
“I’m working hard trying to talk things through with the squad and the manager on the field, and trying to iron out a few things for the season.”
Swansea’s season will begin sooner than the rest of their Premier League counterparts’ as they will enter the third round of Europa League qualifying. The draw will be made on Friday with the first round of games scheduled for early next month and Williams has insisted that he and the rest of the squad will be taking the tournament seriously.
“I don’t know how you can go out there and not take it seriously. In terms of team selection, that’s up to the gaffer, but if he’s taking it seriously, then we all will.
“We’ll just try and have a bit of fun and see where we can go with it. The League is our bread and butter, but any competition we’re in we try and go as far as we can.”