Yahoo News Stoke City transfer deadline day state of play as Steven Schumacher braced for final business
Deadline day means decision day at Stoke City as Steven Schumacher and Jon Walters put finishing touches to their summer business.
Stoke have brought in eight players so far and have been chasing a centre-forward too, although Lewis Koumas's performance down the middle against West Brom plus Ryan Mmaee's return from injury perhaps mean the situation isn't quite as urgent as it seemed a couple of weeks ago. Sam Gallagher is due back from injury next month too and Emre Tezgel has shown a goal touch in the Carabao Cup.
Midfield seems like a department in flux. Josh Laurent, Wouter Burger and Jordan Thompson have been given starts in the first three league games but there is Bosun Lawal and Ben Pearson to come back from injury and Andrew Moran showed his potential with three assists at Middlesbrough on Tuesday. Sol Sidibe is a rising star and Will Smith made his debut in mid-week too.
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Daniel Johnson, aged 31, left last night by mutual consent and is likely to end up in Turkey in his next move. Lewis Baker is joining Blackburn.
Laurent, who has already handed the captain's armband to Ben Gibson this season, is on his way to Burnley on a permanent deal. He was also in the last year of his contract.
Andre Vidigal is available for transfer too. He is under contract until 2026 but behind Bae Junho, Koumas, Lynden Gooch and Tezgel in the pecking order. Niall Ennis has suitors in League One, with interest believed to be from Barnsley and Wrexham.
The midfield cuts open the door for Stoke to turn to Tatsuki Seko and all eyes will be on whether Stoke get a striker deal over the line in the next few hours.
STOKE CITY SUMMER BUSINESS SO FAR
In: Viktor Johansson (Rotherham, undisclosed), Ben Gibson (Norwich, free), Eric Bocat (Sint-Truiden, undisclosed), Sam Gallagher (Blackburn, undisclosed), Bosun Lawal (Celtic, undisclosed), Lewis Koumas (Liverpool, loan), Andrew Moran (Brighton, loan), Ashley Phillips (Spurs, loan)
Under-21s signings: Chinoso Chibueze (Chelsea, free), Noah Cooper (Arsenal, free), Francis Gyimah (Liverpool, free), KIeron Willox (Rangers, free), Wiktor Gromek (Lecce, undisclosed), Japhet Matondo (Cardiff, undisclosed)
Out: Tommy Simkin (Walsall, loan), Matt Baker (Newport County, undisclosed), David Okagbue (Walsall, undisclosed), Liam McCarron (Northampton Town, undisclosed), Mehdi Leris (Pisa, undisclosed), Tyrese Campbell (Sheffield United, free), Ciaran Clark (released), Tom Curl (released), Tom Edwards (Salford City, free), Ian Kamga (released), Ben Kershaw (Hyde United, free), Blondy Nna Noukeu (Sunderland, free), Kahrel Reddin (Altrincham, free), Sonny Singh (released), Tom Sparrow (Motherwell, free), Wesley (Fatih Karagumruk, free), D’Margio Wright-Phillips (Beerschot, free), Daniel Johnson (released), Lewis Baker (Blackburn, loan)
Loan players returned to parent clubs: Luke Cundle, Sead Haksabanovic (since moved from Celtic to Malmo, undisclosed), Ki-Jana Hoever, Daniel Iversen, Luke McNally
