Yahoo News Stoke City transfer state of play amid link to Championship keeper with release fee
Stoke City have had a double project on the go over the last couple of months. At the forefront it's the major one - trying to pick up enough points to secure Championship survival. But in the background is the preparation for a summer transfer window and trying to make sure they are in a completely different position next season.
The summer of 2024 is not expected to be quite like the summer of 2023. There will be fewer deals and the incomings are mostly expected to be more familiar names than were plucked from Serbia, South Korea, Portugal, Hungary and Switzerland last time around.
There is space for one or two surprises but not a squad full. Due diligence is being stepped up and sporting director Jon Walters has been spotted watching games almost every night of the week at the moment to add another layer of testing.
The first two bits of gossip to be floated are for players in positions that everyone knows Stoke need to bolster and will be looking do business: a striker in Jay Rodriguez, who will be out of contract at Burnley, and a goalkeeper in Viktor Johansson, who will have a relegation release clause of about £1m activated at Rotherham.
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Johansson grew up in Sweden and was on the books of Aston Villa at youth level before joining Rotherham via Leicester. He has built a reputation as one of the best shot stoppers in the Championship over the last couple of seasons, including one night at the bet365 Stadium when the visitors escaped with a 1-0 win despite Stoke launching 29 shots at his goal.
Now aged 25, he has been a long-term target of Sheffield United, at least in the past, although they eventually moved for Ivo Grbic in what the Sheffield Star described as "uncertainty about Johansson’s distribution ability due to the Millers’ style". The Sun's Alan Nixon has now suggested Stoke are ready to put in a bid.
There will be a few goalkeepers available this summer looking for a Championship move, including Stoke's loanees this season Mark Travers and Daniel Iversen. Travers has been out in the cold since being recalled by Bournemouth in October, while Iversen has made it no secret that he wants to leave Leicester. They are under contract until 2027 and 2025 respectively.
Wes Foderingham and Adam Davies will be free agents at Sheffield United, the same as Vaclav Hladky and Christian Walton at Ipswich, Alex McCarthy (Southampton), Cameron Dawson (Sheffield Wednesday), John Ruddy and Neil Etheridge at Birmingham, Stoke hero Asmir Begovic (QPR) and Bartosz Bialkowski (Millwall).
Marek Rodak, who has been on the bench at Fulham in the last couple of years but is still only 27, will be out of contract as well. And so too will be Loris Karius (Newcastle Utd) and veterans Adrian (Liverpool), Darren Randolph (Bournemouth), Wayne Hennessey (Nottingham Forest), Scott Carson (Manchester City) and Tom Heaton (Manchester Utd).
Elsewhere, there are decisions to be made about players who are out of contract at Stoke.
Enda Stevens went to great lengths to try to be fit for Stoke over the winter, including what sounds like a horrendously painful injection in his foot. His presence when available at left-back has made a marked difference but, at 33, he has only started 16 league games so far.
Jordan Thompson, aged 27, clocked up his 150th appearance for Stoke at the weekend - putting in one of his best performances in the process - and he has been useful at left-back and in central midfield. Tyrese Campbell, aged 24, also turned in probably his best performance of the season as he led the line in a 3-0 win over Plymouth. He is currently Stoke's longest serving first teamer - but he only has one goal to his name so far this term.
It will be interesting if Steven Schumacher is tempted to try to keep any of the five loanees, including Iversen, for an extended stay. Ki-Jana Hoever has made a big impact goal-wise in the last month especially but Stoke made a big investment in Junior Tchamadeu at right-back last summer. Luke McNally has played the second most minutes of anyone in the squad (behind Michael Rose) and Luke Cundle has given a glimpse of why the coach wanted him. Sead Haksabanovic has returned to the fold recently but hasn't been able to impact games enough.
Looking at who is under contract for 2024/25 it is easy to see where Stoke will have to be active. They need quality at goalkeeper, across defence, on the wing and up front.
It would be no surprise if one or two of the players scheduled to stay might be temped to seek more playing time elsewhere too. Liam McCarron has not been registered in the squad this campaign, Daniel Johnson has only been in the squad once (an unused sub at Hull in March) after a defeat at Blackburn in February. Jojic hasn't forced his way into consideration.
So not as busy as last summer doesn't mean it won't be busy. Last summer was ridiculous, in a lot of ways it turned out, although Bae Junho and Wouter Burger are clearly popular signings. There is a lot of time and money being invested to make sure the strike rate is a lot better in 2024.
Skeleton Stoke City squad for next season
GK: Jack Bonham, Scott Morris, Tommy Simkin
RB: Junior Tchamadeu
LB: Liam McCarron
CB: Michael Rose, Ben Wilmot, David Okagbue, Matty Baker
CM: Wouter Burger, Josh Laurent, Lewis Baker, Daniel Johnson, Ben Pearson, Sol Sidibe
RW: Million Manhoef, Lynden Gooch, Mehdi Leris
LW: Bae Junho, Andre Vidigal, Nikola Jojic
CF: Ryan Mmaee, Niall Ennis, Nathan Lowe, Emre Tezgel
Out of contract/loan players
Daniel Iversen, Enda Stevens, Ki-Jana Hoever, Luke McNally, Ciaran Clark, Jordan Thompson, Luke Cundle, Sead Haksabanovic, Wesley, Tyrese Campbell, Frank Fielding, Tom Edwards, D’Margio Wright-Phillips, Blondy Nna Noukeu
