Carl Rushworth’s stint at Swansea City was one of the best of his loan periods, as the teenage goalkeeper won both the players’ and supporters’ player of the year awards.
Before Rushworth joined the Swans last summer, not many people knew much about him, but he quickly established himself as the team’s first choice goalkeeper.
Despite a dismal season that saw the Swans end in 14th place, the Brighton loanee shone for the team, and every Swansea fan would leap at the chance to welcome the 22-year-old back to the Swansea.com Stadium.
However, thanks to his form at the club, Swansea’s chances of signing Rushworth again next season look very slim, and he looks destined for bigger and better things.
Ipswich Town have dealt Swansea City a Carl Rushworth blow
It recently been reported by Darren Witcoop on X that newly promoted Ipswich Town are currently monitoring the managerial situation at Carl Rushworth’s parent club, Brighton, to see whether Rushworth will stay or leave this summer.
A Premier League side being interested in Rushworth is clearly a huge blow to Swansea City’s chances of re-signing him for a number of reasons.
Firstly, after such an impressive Championship loan spell, it’s a natural progression for Rushworth to want to play at a higher level, and secondly, if it’s a permanent move, Ipswich would be able to afford him, Swansea wouldn’t be.
This means that Rushworth’s chances of being a Swansea player next season are very slim, and Luke Williams will understandably be gutted to miss out.
At one point, it looked as if Rushworth would be returning to the Swansea.com Stadium next season, with Williams telling BBC Wales in February that he thought he would be with the club again for the 2024/25 campaign.
However, in April, Williams said that it was unlikely that Rushworth would return, and that their chances of re-signing him next season were slim.
With Premier League side Ipswich keen, and Brighton yet to make their minds up over whether he’ll feature for them next season, it would be a safe bet to assume that Rushworth won’t be a Swansea player next season.
This will come as a huge blow, and despite Williams being keen to bring him back to south Wales, the Swans boss seems resigned to the fact he won’t be returning.
Carl Rushworth will be very hard to replace for Swansea City
As it stands, Swansea have Andy Fisher and Nathan Broome on their books for next season, but they’ll need to add another goalkeeper this summer.
Fisher has been Swansea’s first choice previously, but he’s failed to impress the Jack Army, and is prone to errors, and after making an error in a pre-season game against Oxford United last season, Micheal Duff moved to sign Carl Rushworth.
Nathan Broome, on the other hand, is young and lacks experience, so a new goalkeeper will be high on the list of Luke Williams’ priorities this summer.
However, finding anyone as good as Rushworth will be very difficult on Swansea’s budget.
The 22-year-old played all 46 league games for Swansea last season, conceding 65 goals, and keeping ten clean sheets.
Whilst this isn’t particularly impressive, Rushworth certainly improved as the season went on, and was reportedly even being looked at by Gareth Southgate as he put his England squad together for the Euros.
Rushworth’s loan spell at Swansea has done him the world of good, and it looks as if the Swans are resigned to the fact that the Brighton man will be playing at a higher level next season.
