It was a fifth successive mid-table finish for the Welsh club, who have not mounted a serious promotion push since Steve Cooper’s team were beaten in the 2021 play-off final by Brentford.
Having been among the Championship’s biggest spenders in the 2025 close season, Swansea’s hierarchy have once again shown ambition this summer.
The club are believe to have spent in the region of £15m on Elijah Just, Joseph Opoku and Moussa Yeo, while Stephen Welsh has signed on a free transfer.
They are also working on deals for a left-back and central midfielder and may look to add another centre-back before the window closes.
“The focus is improving the team, improving the players, put the team in a level that we can compete against everyone,” Matos added.
“There are strong teams [in the Championship] with a lot in terms of budget and a lot of expectations.
“So it doesn’t mean that we need to be the best team, but it means that we need to be able to compete against everyone and be able to win against everyone.
“That’s the good thing about sports. You don’t need to be the best one, but you need to be able to beat the best one. That’s what we want to be.”