Yahoo News 'Staggering' price tag on former Stoke transfer target highlights Steven Schumacher bargain deal
Bournemouth have apparently put what is being described as a "staggering £10 million price tag" on Mark Travers.
Travers, aged 25, joined Stoke City on loan last summer and was keen on returning just as much as the club, then under Alex Neil, was keen to have him back following an emergency recall to his parent club due to injuries in October.
He had to wait until late April to play in the league again but ended the season as first choice on the south coast while Stoke had brought in Daniel Iversen on loan from Leicester in January as his replacement.
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His future is up for debate again this summer but Stoke have instead already made their move for a new number one, triggering a relegation release clause to sign Viktor Johansson from Rotherham United for about £1m, which seems like a steal in comparison.
Johansson, also 25, has been rated as one of the leading goalkeepers in the Championship over the last couple of years while Iversen, aged 26, reportedly had an asking price of about £6m when inquiries were made this time last year.
The Irish Sun claims that Celtic and Crystal Palace are sniffing around Travers but could be scared off by the asking price.
They add: "If (playing in four out of the last five games of the season) raised hopes of him being the no 1 for next season, they are set to be dashed. Boss Andoni Iraola is looking to bring in a keeper and is willing to let the Ireland international go at the right price to make room for the new arrival."
Johansson is the first keeper Stoke have brought in to immediately be number one since signing Thomas Sorensen in 2008 after winning promotion to the Premier League. Managers have chopped and changed in that position particularly after relegation to the Championship in 2018.
Head coach Steven Schumacher said recently: “We spoke about Viktor in January when we first came in but he was at Rotherham, who were still trying to survive and stay in the Championship. We knew what his contract situation was and what his buy-out clause was going to be come the end of the season.
“So he was a goalkeeper we watched extensively and Darren Behcet was always on to me with reports for him. Even though Rotherham were struggling at the bottom of the division, he was one of their stand out performers. It gave us a lot of time to make sure we were making the right decision.
“There were other goalkeepers that we considered, Daniel Iversen being one of them. He was brilliant for us in the run-in, by the way, excellent. I spoke to Daniel at the end of the season and his circumstances were always going to be difficult because we didn’t know if Leicester were going to go up. Now they have and Daniel’s contract situation has changed and it was going to be another conversation for us that might have dragged on.
“But we made our mind up. Once the season had ended and we did our recruitment, we talked about which direction we were going to go in and we decided let’s go for Viktor Johansson, having watched him through the second half of the season.
“I spoke to him on the phone and had a good catch up with him, explained how I want to play, explained the vision for the club, where we want to get to, and he was desperate to get on board.
“He had other interest as well but coming here to be number one and play for such a huge club who is going to have ambitions to compete at the top end of the division next year, he wants to be a part of that.
“I’m delighted to get it done and delighted to get it done early. It’s the first part and one of the most important parts of the team so to get our business done early, credit to everyone involved for sorting that out.”
Stoke City's revolving number one since 2019
2019/20: Jack Butland (35 league starts), Adam Federici (7), Adam Davies (4)
2020/21: Adam Davies (17), Joe Bursik (15), Angus Gunn (14)
2021/22: Joe Bursik (19), Jack Bonham (15), Adam Davies (12)
2022/23: Jack Bonham (22), Joe Bursik (16), Matija Sarkic (8)
2023/24: Daniel Iversen (18), Jack Bonham (14), Mark Travers (13), Tommy Simkin (1)
