Swansea sack manager Garry Monk

Chairman Huw Jenkins said: “The decision has been made very reluctantly and with a heavy heart”.

As expected, assistant manager Pep Clotet and coach James Beattie have gone, while club stalwart Kristian O’Leary, who was on the first-team training staff, is a surprise casualty of the overhaul.

Ghana are on the verge of losing Avram Grant as coach of the Black Stars as he is the favourite to take over as the manager of struggling English Premier League side Swansea City, Ghana’s leading football news outfit GHANAsoccernet.com can exclusively reveal.

In an emotional statement, 36-year-old Monk said he had complete faith that the playing group would turn things around for whoever came in to oversee them while reflecting on an “amazing” spell with the club he joined as a player in 2004.

Giggs is now assistant to van Gaal, and has been widely touted as a contender to take the top job at United when the Dutchman’s contract runs out at the end of next season.

Swansea finished eighth in the Premier League last season with a record 56 points. The Swans travel to Etihad this Saturday to face Manchester City where the players will be hoping to impress any potential new manager with their performance.

The Championship outfit are still without a full-time manager after sacking Kit Symons in early November, a situation which has led to the short-term appointment of Stuart Gray.

“Garry took on the job 22 months ago with the backing of everyone at the club”.

While Swansea work through their list of targets to replace Monk, which include Gus Poyet, Dennis Bergkamp and, possibly, Ryan Giggs, former Manchester United manager David Moyes has confirmed he is not interested in the post.

Giggs, who took over as interim boss when Moyes was sacked as United boss in April 2014, has been widely tipped to succeed Van Gaal, but Jenkins wants to sit down for a discussion with the 42-year-old.

Last season, they picked up a club record number of Premier League points.

“It’s hard to see Swansea struggling because they are the club that brought me to England and allowed me to establish myself in the Premier League and win a move to City, so I will always have respect for the club and their fans”.