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Swansea boss Michael Laudrup: We need to consolidate ourselves as Premier League side
SWANSEA boss Michael Laudrup has maintained that his side need to establish themselves as a Premier League side.
The Swans signed off the final day of the 2012/13 campaign yesterday with a dismal 3-0 defeat at home to Fulham.
Laudrup has been a breath of fresh air in the Premier League this season, and showed his shrewdness in the transfer window last summer by snapping up Michu for £2m from Rayo Vallecano.
Though he guided his side to a ninth-placed finish this term, Laudrup admits it is still too early to 'set targets' for next season.
"It’s impossible to always move forward, but sometimes even maintaining the status quo is enough," Laudrup told Yahoo Sport.
"At this club we cannot pretend to think that we are going to win another major trophy next year or even the year after that because that will be very difficult.
"However, if we’re talking about the Premier League, I think we will have to improve just to stay where we are now.
"It’s a little early to set exact targets because we still have to get new players in but with our idea of the players we want, I think our target should be to try to at least stay mid table and consolidate ourselves as a Premier league side.
"It will be very, very tough to stay in mid table because some of the other clubs below us want to invest to improve."
Laudrup will try to heed the lessons of Newcastle, who qualified for the Europa League season after finishing fifth, but this season slumped to a lowly 16th.
For more insight from Michael Laudrup and other leading managers plus exclusive Premier League highlights go to www.yahoo.co.uk/sport