Swansea City have easy Harry Darling decision to make amid Birmingham City, Wrexham interest | OneFootball

Swansea City's chances of keeping Harry Darling look slim amid interest from Birmingham City and Wrexham

Swansea City seem to be on the brink of an exciting new era, but question marks remain over whether Harry Darling will be part of that.

The central defender sees his three-year deal with the Swans expire this summer, and with reported interest from clubs elsewhere in the Championship, it looks as if Darling may have played his last game for Swansea.

Alan Nixon reported via his Patreon that newly promoted second tier sides Wrexham and Birmingham City were keen on a move for the 25-year-old, who will be a free agent later this summer if nothing changes.

Despite being newly promoted sides, the ambition and financial muscle that Wrexham and Birmingham City possess is well-documented, and Swansea may not be able to compete with any offer made to Darling.

While Swansea will obviously be keen to keep an important player like Darling at the club and not lose him on a free transfer, the longer this situation drags on the more they could benefit from walking away and letting him leave.

Swansea City have easy Harry Darling call after Birmingham City, Wrexham links

Swansea have done all they can to keep Darling, but with potentially bigger wages and a lucrative signing-on fee should he join Wrexham or Birmingham, they'll know their chances of keeping the 25-year-old are slim.

The Swans' attempts to keep Darling at the club have been well-documented, and the club's Director of Football, Richard Montague, told Wales Online earlier this month that they have made a fresh attempt to ensure he remains in South Wales next season.

Montague described the latest contract offer as a "strong offer", and you feel as if Swansea can't really do much more to convince the centre-back to sign given their financial constraints.

While the vast majority of supporters would love to see Darling stay put, he's not irreplaceable, and Swansea can't afford to live beyond their means, throwing money at him in the hope that he may sign.

We're now into the middle of May and Swansea need clarity on the situation, and at this stage it might be best to move on to fresh targets and let Darling join a Championship club elsewhere.

There's no denying that the 25-year-old is a quality player at Championship level and losing him on a free is a big blow, but if Darling was planning on staying, then he'd have likely put pen-to-paper on a new deal by now, and the Swans can't let him hold them to ransom.

No player is bigger than the club, and interest from two ambitious Championship clubs who aren't afraid to spend big might mean that now is the perfect time for Swansea to walk away and start looking for a replacement.

Swansea City have shown they can replace key players

Swansea lost club captain Matt Grimes in January in what felt like it would be a huge blow at the time, but he was replaced by Lewis O'Brien, who impressed on loan from Nottingham Forest and helped the club climb out of a rut to enjoy a top-half finish.

It's not disrespectful to Darling to suggest that Grimes was a far more influential player than he is, and if Swansea can adequately replace and move on from Grimes, a player who was so important, then there's no reason why they couldn't do the same with Darling.

It's an exciting time for Swansea City with a new manager in charge, a new ownership group and the small matter of Luka Modrić being involved with the club, and you'd back them to adequately replace Darling if he opts to move this summer.