Swansea manager gives scathing assessment of Michael Obafemi.

Swansea City manager Russell Martin has given a scathing assessment of the form shown by Michael Obafemi so far this season.

The Ireland striker has been injured in recent weeks but is expected to play a part over the festive season, despite the reservations that his manager made clear to Wales Online.

Speaking ahead of Swansea’s upcoming meeting with Reading, Martin left no doubt as to his feelings on the efforts his striker has put in this campaign, and suggested that the 22-year-old could even be moved on next month.

Michael Obafemi could leave Swansea.

“Michael hasn’t done well enough,” said Martin. “He had a great end to last season. He’s not given us anywhere near enough this season, he knows my thoughts on that. I think we’ll have to wait and see (on potential January interest).

“The August thing (a rumoured move to Burnley) rocked him, for sure. Some players can cope better with that than others. It’s very similar to last season’s pattern really which is really frustrating for us.

“You take a step forward and then two steps back. He knows my thoughts on it. We’ve had really honest chats.

“We got really praised with the way we dealt with him last season. It was about getting him to a point where he could trust himself, we could trust him to do a certain role in the team and we haven’t quite seen that this season. Everyone expected him to pick up where he left off last year, but football is not linear.

“He’s a young man living a long way from home with different things to deal with. Young men don’t always get it right. We really love Mike as a character, a person, but all we can ask for from any of the lads is 100%, all in, a willingness to run for the team, and we’ve only seen that in glimpses.”

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Even if none of this is news to Obafemi, he’s still unlikely to have wanted the details of the pair’s conversations to be shared so publicly.

Martin and Obafemi have had their issues in the past, with Ireland manager Stephen Kenny coming out in defence of the player back in September, something which the Swansea boss wasn’t too happy with.

With his obvious talents, there’s still time for Obafemi to get back into Martin’s good books, but on the other hand,  a move in January might be the best option for all parties.