Naughton to leave Swansea after 10 years
Veteran defender Kyle Naughton will leave Swansea City when his contract expires this summer.Naughton, 36, has played 331 Swansea games since joining the Welsh club – who were then in the Premier League – from Tottenham Hotspur for £5m in January 2015.Swansea have indicated they would have been prepared to offer Naughton a deal to remain at the club beyond this season, but the player has decided the time has come to move on."It's a very emotional week, all the family are coming down for the game. They say time flies when you are having fun, and it has gone so quick," said Naughton."It has been very difficult in some ways, but in other ways not so difficult because I think in football you have a way of knowing your time is up somewhere. That's how it goes.
"But I have been here 10 years and I feel like I have been part of the family and part of the community. That's a feeling I will keep forever, from playing for this club."
Naughton has been a dependable figure throughout his spell in Wales, operating primarily as a right-back but also playing at centre-back, left-back and occasionally in midfield.A product of the Sheffield United academy, Sheffield-born Naughton began his senior career with the Blades before moving to Spurs in 2009.He played 75 games for the London club, spending time on loan at Middlesbrough, Leicester City and Norwich City before Garry Monk brought him to Swansea.Naughton has made 25 appearances this season and will reach the landmark of 300 Swansea league games should he feature when Alan Sheehan's side host Oxford United in their final fixture of the Championship campaign on Saturday (12:30 BST)."I have met so many people who I know if I came back here in 10 years' time, there would always be someone here I could call upon and that's a special thing you don't get at every club," added Naughton.News that Naughton will depart follows fellow Swansea veteran Joe Allen's announcement that he will retire after the Oxford game.
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