De Guzman pleads with Swans to keep him after scoring double against Stoke

By Riath Al-Samarrai for the Daily Mail

Published: 17:31 EST, 20 January 2013 | Updated: 19:14 EST, 20 January 2013

Jonathan De Guzman is proving to be quite persuasive. He is desperate to turn his loan stay at Swansea into a permanent arrangement and his performance against Stoke on Saturday appears to have nudged Michael Laudrup to ensure it happens.

His two goals in the 3-1 win were brilliant in isolation; his domination of Stoke’s heavy-hitting midfield made him the game’s best player.

To judge from Dutch sources at the weekend, a full Holland cap is just around the corner.

Desperate to stay: Swansea loanee Jonathan De Guzman is desperate to stay at the Liberty Stadium

Such has been his importance to Laudrup’s plans that in a frantic schedule of seven matches in three weeks, he has started all but one and will almost certainly be Swansea’s hinge between defence and attack against Chelsea in the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg on Wednesday.

Beyond that, the ball is in Villarreal’s court. They paid nearly £7million for him in August 2011 before the financial consequences of last season’s relegation from La Liga forced them to loan him out.

But he is under contract until 2016 and Sportsmail understands a summer bid is on the cards, though Villarreal want to recoup at least £5m with add-ons of a further £1m.

Importance: Swansea manager Michael Laudrup (right) will have to part with about £6 million if a deal is to become permanent

De Guzman, 25, said: ‘I have scored six goals here and am a happy camper - I would love to stay. It’s a great group, not just the players but the guys around the place - the staff and the fans.

'It’s a family club and I like that. There is something good happening here and I like being part of it.’

Holland manager Louis van Gaal sent his assistant Danny Blind to watch De Guzman, formerly an Under 21 international, on Saturday ahead of the February 6 friendly against Italy.  

Meanwhile, Stoke’s Robert Huth admitted no-one knows why their defence, which was one of the meanest in Europe going into the festive fixtures, has since conceded 13 goals in their past four top-flight games.

He said: ‘I can’t put my finger on what’s going wrong. We assess things after every game to stop mistakes but at the moment teams are cutting through us and scoring more than they used to. 

‘Hopefully we will get things sorted for next week because Manchester City are playing some good stuff.’

Porous: Stoke City defender Robert Huth (right) is not sure why his team, who had one of the meanest defences in Europe, have now conceded 13 in their last four