• Tabanou rejoins old club on loan seven months after moving to Wales • ‘They did not give me my chance… Tactically they are not at the top’

Franck Tabanou has hit out at Swansea City after leaving the club to return to St Etienne on loan. The French club re-signed the 26-year-old full-back until the end of the season seven months after he moved to Swansea on a three-year deal for £3.5m.

Swansea City’s derailment slows one of football’s most impressive rises | Barry Glendenning Read more

The former France Under-21 international has made only three appearances – all in cup competitions – and told the French newspaper L’Equipe of his frustrations as he headed home.

“I had gone to Swansea to get to the next level, to get my foot in the Premier League and to then go higher,” Tabanou said. “Unfortunately it didn’t happen the way I wanted. They did not give me my chance. I do not understand.

“And I think, if I had stayed, my situation wouldn’t have changed. The club is in a terrible situation and, despite that, they never let me play.

“Tactically they are not at the top. They have their players, they will fight until the last minute. This is not the way I play. I might have been able to make more effort but I also expect an effort from them.”