Steve Cooper admits he didn't expect Ryan Manning to be as available as he was when Swansea City swooped to sign him from Queens Park Rangers.
The 24-year-old joined the Swans on transfer deadline day for a fee of £250,000, with Manning signing a three-year deal at the Liberty Stadium.
He made his Swansea debut in the 2-0 win over Stoke City on Tuesday night after starting in place of Jake Bidwell who came on for the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international on 73 minutes.
And Cooper has revealed Manning was on his radar for some time during the course of the summer transfer window.
"We’re really pleased that Ryan's joined us and it was great for him to get his first appearance under his belt the other day," said the Swansea head coach.
"He looks like he's settled, he's very happy amongst the group of players and he looks very motivated in training. He seems to be enjoying his work here early on.
"He’s here for the long term, Ryan, and we’re looking forward to working with him and making him the asset we think he can be.
"He’s a player we did a lot of due diligence on and one that we identified a while ago.
"We didn’t think he would be as available as what he might have been at QPR, with him not being there for so long.
"He was definitely one that we had highlighted. He fitted the profile of player that we want here and then once there was an opportunity to bring him in, we tried to jump on it and that’s what we did.
"He was a player that was well known to us and we're delighted he's with us. We're looking forward to getting going with him."
Manning - who can operate on the left flank and in midfield - is in contention to feature against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday as Swansea look to secure back-to-back victories following their triumph over Stoke.
Cooper has several other selection dilemmas to ponder ahead of the visit of Tony Mowbray's men as a result of his side's efforts against the Potters, with Jay Fulton, Yan Dhanda and Kyle Naughton among those pushing for starts.
Speaking ahead of the match, Cooper confirmed that Manning's fellow deadline day capture Ryan Bennett is available having been withdrawn late on in the win over Stoke due to fatigue.
Joel Latibeaudiere is also available, but George Byers has suffered a minor setback in his return from a groin injury while Morgan Gibbs-White is also sidelined.
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