Luke Williams confirms big Swansea City news in wake of Matt Grimes, Coventry City deal | OneFootball

Luke Williams confirmed who Swansea City's new captain would be following Matt Grimes' departure

Luke Williams has named Ben Cabango as Swansea City's new captain following Matt Grimes' move to Coventry City.

Grimes had been Swansea's captain for nearly six years, taking the armband in the summer of 2019 following Steve Cooper's appointment, but a shock move to Championship rivals Coventry City means that Williams will have to quickly start planning for life without him.

Since taking charge at the Swansea.com Stadium in January 2024, Grimes has played every single game of Williams' tenure, and while the Swans boss admitted they will have to evolve their style of play in his absence, he's more than happy to hand the captain's armband to Cabango.

Ben Cabango becomes Swansea City's captain following Matt Grimes' exit

Despite being born and raised in Cardiff, Welsh international Cabango came through the academy ranks at Swansea, where he captained the club's youth sides, and Williams deemed it a "pretty easy decision" to hand him the armband.

Speaking to Wales Online, the Swansea boss said: “We have Ben Cabango, who will step up into the role of captain. He is a player who has captained the club at every level he has played at, and has come through the academy.

"He is very much someone in the mould of a leader, and it is his time to shine now and we move forward.

“It was a pretty easy decision, because he is someone I think everyone respects on the staff and among the players.

“I see him as somebody who is prepared to do whatever it takes for the team, to put his body on the line, to try and make one more action in the build-up and be brave.

“He has all the leadership qualities, he tries to motivate people, he’ll give people a ticking off at the right time, and encourage those around him when they need that encouragement.

"The things I see make me believe he fits the mould really well."

Meanwhile, Williams revealed that Swansea were unable to keep Grimes at the club, and they quickly ruled out the idea of offering him fresh terms after Coventry's interest emerged.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Williams said: "We couldn't agree anything here and he and his family made the decision that another option was better for him, for their own reasons.

"I am not in the correct position to talk about all the reasons - there are many I'm sure.

"If it was just so simple that he preferred to play for one team over the other, then that would be hurtful. But the reasons are more than that."

Ben Cabango has big boots to fill as Swansea City captain

One criticism of Grimes' time as Swansea City captain was that he wasn't vocal enough, but while he wasn't a shouter and a screamer, he led by example.

Grimes' biggest strength was the fact he was always available and played every minute of every game, and Cabango has big boots to fill to become as durable as his predecessor.

However, on paper, Cabango looks the perfect fit to take over the captaincy at Swansea, and it's a reward for recently putting pen-to-paper on a new deal with the club.

Ironically, Grimes played a big part in keeping Cabango at the club, being part of a presentation that Williams put together to convince the Welsh international to remain in SA1, and not even the player himself would have expected to become club captain so soon after.

It's been a whirlwind couple of days for Swansea, but they've acted decisively to name Cabango as captain, and his first job will be to try and put an end to their losing streak when they welcome Grimes' Coventry side to the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday.