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Swansea will not sell Andre Ayew to Sunderland, says Alan Curtis

Swansea will not entertain selling Andre Ayew, insists outgoing interim manager Alan Curtis.

Ayew has been the subject of strong Sunderland interest and the forward's boyhood favourites Liverpool have also been linked with the Ghana international, who finished third in 2015 African Footballer of the Year awards.

The 26-year-old joined on a free transfer from Marseille last summer and has been one of the few bright spots in Swansea's struggling season with seven goals making him the club's top scorer.

And Curtis, who was in charge for the final time in Monday night's 1-0 victory over Watford with new head coach Francesco Guidolin set to take over team affairs at Everton on Sunday, said selling Ayew was not an option.

"There was talk of him going to Sunderland or them making a bid," Curtis said after his second win in seven league games.

"But we wouldn't even entertain that as far as I am concerned.

"He is one of a number of big players for us and we don't want to lose anybody during the window.

"We want to bring people in and we will get somebody in.

"But if we don't it's important no one else goes out through the door."

The win -- Swansea's third in 18 league attempts -- moved them out of the Premier League relegation zone and a point above Newcastle into 17th place.

Curtis will remain part of the Swansea set-up under Guidolin who will be assisted by Gabriele Ambrosetti, the former Chelsea midfielder, and the 61-year-old said he was happy to stand aside for the Italian, one year his junior.

"I've always said I was quite happy to do that if the club thought it was necessary to bring someone in," said Curtis, who succeeded the sacked Garry Monk last month.

"If we had won more games, then possibly, that might not have been needed.

"I think the performances have been excellent but we haven't had the results those performances warranted.

"We could have been four, five, six, or even seven points, further on.

"But by bringing in an experienced coach we can turn those performances into points.

"Sometimes you maybe need that managerial experience at the top level to get the points that go with the performances."

Watford have now suffered four straight league defeats and failed to win in five games.

The Hornets only came to life in the second half but were unable to cancel out Ashley Williams' 27th-minute header.

At least Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores had the consolation of signing Morocco winger Nordin Amrabat from Malaga on a three-and-a-half-year deal before kick-off.

"It shows that players are happy coming to Watford," Flores said.

"But I am not a coach who comes to press conferences talking about players that I want to sign.

"I am happy with the players I have got because what they have done is completely amazing.

"When we had four wins in a row we were humble -- and this is football.

"This is the Premier League. We have just come up and have lots reasons to be happy.

"I don't like to lose but we need to accept the results -- and we have enough points to be positive."

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