According to reports, Middlesbrough ‘hijack’ a managerial candidate’s proposed move to Swansea City, as talks continue into this week.
Anel Avdic of Sport Expressen writes that “Kim Hellberg is about to leave Hammarby and is on his way to Middlesbrough.
“Expressen’s sources says the successful coach is expected to make arrangements with the club on Monday – as long as nothing unexpected happens.
“The parties must agree on a contract – and thus Swansea will be dismissed.”
Russell Martin meanwhile has now been made the bookies favourite to make a return to Swansea, with it said that Martin had already made clear to the Swansea hierarchy that he would be interested in a return after Sheehan’s sacking, but the club’s focus had been on the appointment of Kim Hellberg.
🚨 Kim Hellberg väntas slutföra sin flytt till Middlesbrough under måndagen så till vida inget oväntat inträffar. Parterna är överens om ett kontrakt och därmed ser Swansea ut att få nobben av svensken. https://t.co/hDC4k3V6Cc
— Anel Avdić (@AnelAvdic) November 17, 2025
Breaking: #Middlesbrough are now showing interest in #Hammarby boss Kim Hellberg. #Swansea move now in real doubt as #Boro actively pursue the high-rated young Swedish coach. (w/ @AnthonyRJoseph) More on @SkySportsNews #SSN https://t.co/33WuKviaBB pic.twitter.com/zhsO7uRprd
— Lyall Thomas (@SkySportsLyall) November 17, 2025
Swansea and Middlesbrough manager markets both being suspended pending the imminent appointment of Kim Hellberg is great fun. The Championship manager drama is football’s own soap opera
— George Elek (@GeorgeElek) November 17, 2025
The name everyone has been talking about over the weekend was Swiss manager Raphael Wicky, most recently in charge of Young Boys.
Jounralist John Percy said that the 48-year-old had emerged as a contender for the role at Middlesbrough, and was interviewed on Saturday at Boro’s training ground.
The Northern Echo meanwhile wrote that club officials held talks with a number of contenders, with more interviews planned but noted there was no frontrunner yet with no rush to decide.
Kieran Scott leads the recruitment alongside chairman Steve Gibson and CEO Neil Bausor, favouring a “head coach” over a traditional manager to maintain the club’s successful alignment model.
Adi Viveash remains in temporary charge for upcoming games against Oxford and Coventry, supported by staff like Craig Liddle and Mark Tinkler, while players enjoy a scheduled rest before a busy Championship schedule.
Here’s how fans reacted as Middlesbrough ‘hijack’ a managerial candidate’s proposed move to Swansea…
@swansea_indy: #Hellberg We have to be honest, no club sneaks in on a Sunday afternoon and whisks a manager away overnight. This is something that has taken time, Carrick was on big money at #Boro And if this happens then so will Hellberg. Twelve hours overnight long term contracts do not happen in football when you have all the decisions that Hellberg has to make. You can’t have it both ways. Swans accounts don’t have to back track. It happens face it. #Swans #Hellberg #Boro
@tuckers2912: Disgraceful behaviour by #Boro #Hypocrites #wwfc
@callum_wwfc1: Well well well
@wwfcscott: Their club would never behave in such a manner, though would they?! Poaching managers eh
@Leightowolf: And I thought the #Boro boys were whiter than white 😂😂
@keiran_wwfc: Disgraceful, no morals shown here
@YasWWFC: Lack of morals. This is disgraceful. This doesn’t belong in football.
@darbayit: Not Middlesbrough acting poorly in the manager market. Could never be them. They’re such a holier than thou outfit?
@BG__85: How out of order of Middlesbrough approaching someone in work. Why would he go to Middlesbrough when he could be in Europe next season with his current team
@Smithy_MFC84: Well, well, well. Is Steve Gibson about to break the habit of a lifetime and pay compensation for a new Head Coach? Quite excited if true. #Boro
@Davboro123: 🎵 Gimme gimme gimme a gaffer from Sweden, his name is Kimmy Hellberg and he’s taking us up 🎵 #boro
@dylanrhysgrant: Hope it’s not true and we still end up with him. Read that Gibson has never appointment a manager who wasn’t free 🤞🏻 🦢
@Strickland__Ben: I can’t lie. Hellberg excites me an awful lot more than Wicky. Obviously it looks to be more of a calculated risk given Wicky’s experience in multiple nations and tournaments. But in terms of style of play, Hellberg seems perfect for me personally
@AledSCFC:
Liquidate your club immediately
I hope you get relegated
I hope he fails with you and gets sacked after 3 months
I wish nothing but the worst for you
@tomb337: That’s another fanbase that’s gonna be hate watching us 😂
@_TY_97: Considering we have more interviews scheduled, this is probably his agent trying to get Swansea to pay his compensation #boro
@JimmyLeeso: Let’s see everyone tell us how long they’ve been tracking his progress now. I know nowt about the lad. I’m sound with that though. #UTB
@NahItsLyingTho: To be fair, as we all know this is vitally important, Middlesbrough is closer to his family in Sweden than Swansea, so fair enough.
@DaveBoro1770: Happy with that. He averages 2 points a game at Hammarby and insists on fast, attacking football. Glad its not one of the usual suspects from the managerial roundabout.
@BenJones888435: Does this mean us and the Hammerby fans team up to hate Middlesbrough now?
@Cerium: Tbf, if he can have his nose turned that quickly, fuck him 👍 we want loyalty and someone who WANTS to be here. We don’t need another manager who’s gonna jump ship the first chance they get 🤣
@ChloeChantelle1: Not us finding a manager for another club 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
@HoldTightJac: I don’t care if we get Hellberg or not, it’s not the end of the world if we don’t. the part that worries me is we have chased him for over a week and could be left scrambling to appoint a manager. He’s had us dangling on a string and we put all our eggs in one basket. Same old!
@rhyspalmer: Once again, Swans fans naively celebrated something that hadn’t been confirmed yet, and end up looking like twats
@SCFCDan_: Gonna end up with a stinker now ain’t we
#wwfc #boro pic.twitter.com/yAeTB7ZO12
— Lewis (@WolvesLew) November 17, 2025
