AS.com

In a recent poll conducted by AS.com, 73% of Real Madrid fans said that they would like to see Michael Laudrup take over as coach should José Mourinho leave the post. The Danish manager polled more votes than either of the other two candidates - Rafa Benítez gaining 18% of the votes and Carlo Ancelotti, 9%.

The Swansea manager is currently preparing for Sunday's Capital One Cup Final against Bradford and is keen to ensure that external issues do not have a negative influence on his players. "Now's not the time to talk about my future. We are just days away from one of the most important games in the history of this club and so to start talking about anything else would be cruel. We need to make sure that nothing distracts us - everything other than this final is secondary right now", Laudrup, who is under contract with the Swans until June 2014, said.

As a consequence of the great season which Swansea are enjoying, Laudrup is being touted as a possible replacement for Mourinho. He is on the brink of making history with the Premier League outfit. "Winning a trophy would do a lot in changing Swansea's image - but it's not going to be easy," he pointed out, "It would mean qualifying for Europe which would be fantastic for the club, for the fans and also it would generate extra income and with that, maybe the arrival of players who are keen to play in European competition".