Monk breaks silence on Al Ahli's move for Gomis

Dubai - Swansea boss expects Frenchman to stay at the Liberty Stadium

Swansea City manager Garry Monk has confirmed that the English Premier League (EPL) club did receive an enquiry from Al Ahli about a proposed transfer for their striker Bafetimbi Gomis, but he swiftly ruled out sanctioning the summer switch.
The Red Knights were thought to have turned their attentions to the Swans' French international striker, 29, having seen another target, Shakhtar Donestsk's Luiz Adriano, elect to join Italian giants AC Milan instead.
Gomis is believed to have a £7m release clause in his contract and it was rumoured that Ahli had tempted him with the offer of a £3.5m a year, tax-free salary.
Nonetheless, it's clear there are certain stipulations within Gomis' contract that would make the prospect of triggering that release clause a more remote possibility than first thought and Monk now expects him to carry on from where he left off last season.
Gomis scored six goals in his last 10 EPL games for the Swans in the 2014/2015 campaign after a sluggish start to life at the Liberty Stadium. He initially found it hard to break into the Swansea first team owing to the free-scoring form of Wilfried Bony prior to the Ivorian's £25m move to Manchester City during the January transfer window.
"That club (Ahli) made contact with us and made an enquiry," Monk admitted.
"That's no problem - that happens, but 'Bafe' (Gomis) is a Swansea City player. We are looking forward to working with him and him hopefully having a productive season.
"I'm not thinking about him leaving; Bafe is focused on doing a good job. We had the same thing in January, but he ended up finishing the season well.
"He finished strongly at the end of last season and I think he can take that form into this season and do well again."
If anything concrete were to come of Ahli's tentative approach for Gomis, it would further strengthen the attacking options available to their Romanian coach Cosmin Olaroiu after the club signed Brazilian striker Lima from Benfica on a two-year deal late on Saturday night.
However, Ahli's interest in the player has seemingly waned and, with the registration deadline for their AFC Champions League quarter-final clash with Iranian outfit Naft Tehran rapidly approaching, they signed Lima over the weekend.
Lima's arrival will likely deem either Moroccan midfielder Oussama Assaidi or Brazilian attacker Jociel Da Silva, aka 'Ciel,' surplus to requirements at Rashid Stadium.
South Korea's Kyung-won Kwon and Lima's compatriot Everton Ribeiro have both been retained ahead of the forthcoming 2015/2016  Arabian Gulf League season.
alex@khaleejtimes.com