Leon Britton has signed a new contract with Swansea City that will take him to just short of his 36th birthday.
The Swans midfielder – arguably their most influential player of the past decade – has agreed a new deal through to the end of next season.
The one-year extension ties Britton to the Liberty Stadium to the summer of 2018 – when he will be in his 16th season with the club.
The former West Ham player, who moved to South Wales in 2002, played his 500th match for Swansea last season and is aiming to try for 600 before he hangs up his boots.
“Getting up to 600 appearances for the club might be a big ask, but you have always have to have targets,” he said.
“Getting to 500 was a big thing for me. Now I would say I want to reach 550 and then I will go from there.
“If I can reach 600 that would be great, but I don’t think there are too many players who have got to 550, so that would be great achievement.”
Britton played for the 514th time in Swans colours when he led Francesco Guidolin’s team out at Burnley on the opening day of the season.
He did not feature in the weekend defeat to Hull City after a bout of illness, and accepts that he will not always feature these days.
“Looking forward, I know my role will change a little bit in terms of not playing as regularly as I have done over the years,” he added.
“I have spoken to the manager about that and I understand it. I have said to him that I am ready to start, to come on or just to be involved in the squad and trying to help the other players.
“I will just train well, keep fit and be ready for the manager however he wants to use me.
“At my age, maybe that sharpness you have when you are 24 or 25 is not there. You have to adjust your game a bit. You try to read the game better and use your experience.
“But I still feel fresh, I still train well and I still feel I can get around the pitch, so I think there is life in me yet. Signing the extension was a very easy decision, like most of my contracts at Swansea have been.
“I spoke to the chairman and said if you are happy to have me, let’s just keep the same terms. I think it’s one of the easiest contracts the club have ever drawn up.
“If you include the loan deals when I first came, I have now signed 13 contracts at Swansea. You never know, there might be a 14th – it’s down to me to try to prove I can still do a job.
Britton’s new deal means his stint as a Swan will stretch to 16 seasons. He is proud to have represented the club for almost all of his senior career – and of the progress the Swans have made during that period.
And Britton is confident the change of ownership in SA1 this summer will see the Swans to continue to thrive.
“The new owners have come in and I am sure they have got their own ideas to try to push us forward,” he added.
“In the Premier League you can’t stand still. If you think you have made it and you relax, you get found out because there are teams spending a lot of money.
“But I think we can keep progressing and hopefully the new owners will give us some fresh impetus. I am sure they will invest in the playing side of things as well as the stadium. Hopefully that will make the club grow more and more over the next few years.”
