Swansea manager Michael Laudrup warns Arsenal off Michu

Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup has warned Arsenal that striker Michu is not for sale at any price.

Laudrup has insisted that not even a “ridiculous” amount of money will be enough to prize the 27-year-old Spaniard, who scored 22 goals in his first season at the Liberty Stadium, away from the club.

Rumours that Arsene Wenger has been assessing alternative targets following the club’s failure to sign Luis Suarez from Liverpool this summer have seen Michu’s name linked with a possible move to the Emirates Stadium.

However, Michu, who arrived in a £2.2m move from Rayo Vallecano last summer, signed an improved four-year contract with the Swans in January and Laudrup has no intention of selling an asset that he sees as now being worth £30m or more, particularly as he would have so little time to replace him.

“I think economically the club is very good,” he said.

“I know if they (Arsenal) came in with a very late bid, I know that the reaction from the board and chairman will be ‘No’, even if the money is ridiculous, as we will not have time enough to find a replacement who is near enough to the same standard.

“You can say we would get a lot of money but why be the richest club in the championship? What is that worth?

“I spoke to Michu last year and he extended his contract and asked me about mine and I said ‘I am going to stay here’, and he said, ‘So am I’.

“Michu is an offensive midfielder who can play centre forward but he will be a goalscorer wherever he plays.

“He is not only a goalscorer who is up there, waiting. When he plays in midfield he is working very hard and physically he has a presence and fills a lot of space as well.

“I see him more as an offensive midfielder. He can come in from that second line where he is so gifted.

“Of his 22 goals last season, I think 20 of his goals were first touch which shows how effective he is.”