Former Hearts and Sunderland star to become free agent as he's released by English Championship club

A former Hearts and Sunderland goalkeeper will be on the move this summer with his release in the post at Swansea City.

Jon McLaughlin has spent this season back in the EFL, at English Championship level. He left Rangers last summer after a four year spell and has provided goalkeeping cover at the club based in Wales, now under new management in head coach Alan Sheehan.

Turning 38 in September, McLaughlin impressed between the sticks at Hearts between 2017-18 and it earned him a move to Sunderland. There, he spent a couple of seasons before heading north to Ibrox but his latest adventure in Swansea is coming to an end, alongside Cyrus Christie, Kristian Pedersen, Joe Allen and Kyle Naughton.

Former Hearts and Sunderland star to become free agent

Sheehan told the BBC: "I think we are going to have to get the right blend. I think we are all very clear on that. I think we all agree that we want to bring in potentially really good players, but we want to give them that opportunity to thrive and in order to do that, you have to have the right culture, the right experience and the right blend. We have had meetings already. We want to be aggressive in the right areas of recruitment and try to be aggressive on our targets.

In total, McLaughlin played 36 times for Hearts. The former Jambo and Sunderland man has played once over this current campaign, a 3-0 FA Cup defeat to Southampton back in January.

Why Jon McLaughlin moved to Swansea City

Speaking after his move to Wales last summer, penning a short term deal before an extension in January, McLaughlin said: “It’s a pleasure to be here. I am really excited to join the club. It’s great for me, it’s been fantastic already. It is a short contract, but it’s a great opportunity and I hope I can come here and show my value and try and turn it into something longer term.”

He added on playing against Swansea City in their League Cup final win against Bradford City: “I know normally to lose a game 5-0 would be a disaster, but for us to Bradford to get to that stage itself, getting past the likes of Arsenal and Aston Villa, as a League Two side was incredible. We then came up against Swansea, and that season especially they were flying and I think we would have needed Swansea to have nine players and us to have 11 to have a chance.

“It’s obviously not ideal coming on when you are down to 10 men, but it was an unforgettable experience you won’t forget for a long time. With the penalty I can just remember the ref asking me if I was ready to go, I was still trying to get my gloves on and I was looking at De Guzman and Nathan going at it on the penalty spot. I was quite glad because is gave me a minute or so to gather myself, although he still stuck away a great penalty. But it was an amazing experience all round to be part of that.”