Big Swansea City, Vitor Matos update will delight £6m Brighton and Hove Albion player | OneFootball

Brighton loanee Malick Yalcouye has yet to show Swansea what Sturm Graz saw last season, but Vitor Matos knows what he's all about

Swansea City have turned to the Portuguese second division in the latest tale of their manager search, as Vitor Matos is a leading contender to replace Alan Sheehan.

The Swans were seemingly the number one destination for Hammarby boss Kim Hellberg, but the Swede looks set to be joining Middlesbrough instead.

It's been back to square one for the higher ups at The Swansea.com Stadium, and it seems that current Maritimo boss and former Liverpool development coach Vitor Matos is the man they're looking at now, with reports suggesting that the two parties are in "advanced talks."

The 37-year-old has only been in the job with the Portuguese side since June, and that marks his first venture into senior management, so people may be feeling rather skeptical.

However, for one young star in particular, Malick Yalcouye, the arrival of Matos as manager could allow him to showcase what made him an integral part of a title-winning campaign in Austria last season.

Malick Yalcouye hasn't set the world alight at Swansea City so far

Matos has plenty of pedigree ahead of his move into senior management, being part of the development staff at Anfield before following Jürgen Klopp's assistant, Pep Lijnders, to RB Salzburg to be their assistant.

Their time in Austria didn't last too long, just 29 games, with one of the main lowlights being a 5-0 defeat against Sturm Graz.

Yalcouye was a scorer on that day, and was a big part of the club's title-winning campaign, scoring four and assisting two in 26 Austrian Bundesliga appearances. He also made eight appearances in the Champions League.

However, his second loan spell away from Brighton and Hove Albion at Swansea hasn't gotten off to a similarly strong start.

As a teenager, Brighton invested £6 million into the Ivorian youth international, signing him from Swedish side Gothenburg in 2024.

The Seagulls are well-renowned for their development of young talent, and the 20-year-old had shown promise before he made the move to South Wales. At the time of his arrival, Alan Sheehan coined the signing "a wonderful coup."

But so far, Yalcouye's most memorable moment in a Swansea shirt saw him sent off after 34 minutes in a home defeat to QPR. That actually remains his last appearance for the club to date, having spent the last two games post-suspension as an unused substitute.

The versatile midfielder made 24 consecutive starts for the Austrian champions last season, yet so far this year, the only consecutive starts he's made came in the opening two games of the campaign.

The 20-year-old clearly needs a boost, and Matos may be able to provide that.

Vitor Matos could give the confidence needed for Malick Yalcouye to flourish at Swansea City — he could give the Swans the attacking boost they need

Swansea have been toothless going forward so far this season.

Granted, whilst a free-flowing attack was never Alan Sheehan's strong point during his time at the club (his incredible interim role was built on solid defensive numbers), sitting bottom in total xG and big chances created, and third-bottom in shots on target per match, isn't good enough.

Yalcouye, either as a central or wide attacking midfielder, does have the ability to provide that spark. Last season, he was among the highest volume of dribblers in his position. Yet so far, for some reason, it hasn't worked out for him.

However, if the 20-year-old started to work under a manager whose background has mainly come in the form of developing exciting young stars, and one who has seen first hand what he can do to a team in a dominant win, he could play to his strengths, and then Yalcouye could begin to show why Swansea bent over backwards to get him in for the year.

The Brighton loanee chose to continue his development in the Championship, despite interest from top flight sides such as Hoffenheim, Freiburg, Toulouse and FC Copenhagen. Therefore, you'd expect that he won't be giving up on that due to a sticky patch on the field.

If Matos is the man for Swansea, expect Yalcouye to flourish. He may just be the reason that the Swans find themselves with an outside shout for the top six come May.