Yahoo News Stoke City transfer state of play as transfer window opens
The summer transfer window officially opens this morning with Stoke City already having two signings in the bag.
Stoke have got their first two deals done by bringing in Rotherham United keeper Viktor Johansson and free agent centre-back Ben Gibson, who is leaving Norwich. There have also been contract extensions for back-up keeper Frank Fielding and left-back Enda Stevens.
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 to add another layer of testing. Steven Schumacher is pretty clear about what he wants too.
There has also a big change in the transfer department itself, with head of recruitment Jared Dublin leaving after just under a year. Lee Darnbrough has this week been confirmed as the man in that key role. All in all, it's been a pivotal few days.
AS IT HAPPENS: Latest Stoke City transfer news and gossip through summer window
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Retained and released
Tyrese Campbell has left Stoke after eight years, ending on a high with a standing ovation after scoring in a final-day 4-0 win over Bristol City. A 12-month option has been taken on Jordan Thompson's contract, Frank Fielding is staying as third-choice keeper and Stoke are veteran left-back Enda Stevens h as signed on for another year.
Centre-back Ciaran Clark and striker Wesley move on. Rookie keeper Blondy Nna Noukeu, right-back Tom Edwards, forward D'Margio Wright-Phillips and midfielder Tom Sparrow have been released as well as under-21s players Ben Kershaw, Kahrel Reddin, Sonny Singh, Tom Curl and Ian Kamga,
Stoke have offered new contracts to centre-back pair Matthew Baker, aged 21, and David Okagbue, aged 20, who have just reported back from League Two loans with Newport County and Walsall respectively. Playmaker Jack Griffiths, aged 18, is also in talks about a new deal.
There are first pro contracts on the table in the under-18s age group for Dean Adekoya, Josh Bickerton, Jake Griffin, Christy Grogan, Jaden Mears and Will Smith while Adam Watson, the New Zealand youth striker and son of former long-serving physio Dave Watson, has been given the chance to extend his scholarship into a third year.
Viktor Johansson joins as number one
Stoke confirmed the signing of Rotherham goalkeeper Viktor Johansson on a three-year deal.
The Sweden international, aged 25, joins for an undisclosed fee after a relegation release clause was triggered. He had spent four years at the New York Stadium, where he established himself as one of the leading keepers in the Championship.
He told the Sentinel: “People look at me and might think I’m not the biggest but I would say I command my area pretty well. I’m brave, I scrap. I just love getting hit or hitting someone. It’s a contact sport, there should be contact. And I like shot stopping too.”
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Ben Gibson signs up
Stoke have made Ben Gibson their second signing of the summer.
The 31-year-old centre-back has got a reputation as a changing room leader and it is believed there had been strong rival interest, including from the United States.
Gibson made 37 appearances for Norwich as they reached the play-offs in the season just finished but they have a different agenda to Stoke this summer, trying to bring down the average age of their squad and readjust to a final year of parachute payments.
“Ben Gibson left Norwich with his head held high at the end of his contract after playing through some difficult personal circumstances in the second half of the season. He is a humble and intelligent man who brings leadership and know how to any backline," Connor Southwell, Norwich City reporter, told the Sentinel.
New recruitment chief in place
Lee Darnbrough has taken over as head of recruitment. The 46-year-old has been in a key role behind the scenes at Hull since 2017 in times that haven’t always been straightforward. He has worked under controversial previous owner Assem Allam as well as Acun Ilicali, the Turkish tycoon who bought the club in early 2022.
He was lined up as the experienced hand to replace Dublin at the start of a pivotal summer window. He will work alongside the current recruitment department, with trusted figures such as Mama Sidibe and Scott Coomber, as well as Walters and Schumacher.
Darnbrough was a highly-rated goalkeeper himself coming through the ranks at Oldham Athletic and spent two years at the FA’s national school in Lilleshall only to have to retire from professional football at just 19 due to a badly broken wrist.
He moved his attention to off-field matters and has been involved analysis and recruitment at West Bromwich Albion, where he worked with Manchester United-bound Dan Ashworth, Burnley, where he helped win a surprise promotion to the Premier League in 2014 with Sean Dyche, and Norwich City, where colleagues included Alex Neil and Ricky Martin.
It is at Hull where he has been able to put down roots while also graduating with a distinction in sports directorship from Manchester Met. Familiar signings he has overseen at Hull include Liam Delap and Jaden Philogene, Fabio Carvalho, Harry Wilson and Fikayo Tomori.
Jon Walters said: “Lee played, has been an analyst, scout, he’s almost being a sporting director at Hull, knowing what he does and what he did with Liam (Rosenior) there. He’s got 20 years’ experience doing what he’s doing with Norwich, West Brom, Burnley… He’s worked under unbelievable sporting directors and he’s grown himself.
“He brings experience in the domestic market, the international market and for me to have someone like that, with a lot more knowledge than me in his area, and to be able to push me on the sporting director side of it. There will be things I’ll be learning from him as I go along.
“Ultimately he’s the right person, the right character to have in. He doesn’t live far from here, he knows what the club’s about, he knows what the area is about and I think he’ll bring all of that and he wants to grow himself. I know where he wants to get to, he’s not just going, ‘I want to be where I am,’ he wants to grow and grow with the club. I think he’s the perfect person to come in and do that.”
What other positions do Stoke need?
Two big positions have been ticked off for Stoke in the starting XI with the arrivals of Johansson and Gibson - and the pursuit of a main striker seems like the biggest hole that still needs filling. Campbell was released to give the club a chance for a fresh start in this position. Emre Tezgel and Nathan Lowe will hope to stake their claims for the future too. It is obviously the major transfer target that Stoke are hunting for and need.
Schumacher said in his end-of-term review: “We've highlighted the areas of the pitch and things that we did really well since we came in in game week 23 and there's loads of positives and loads of things that we were doing successfully, but there's a glaring and obvious weakness of what we've got.
“Now we need to be more clinical in front of goal. There's areas in the 18-yard box where we need to score more goals from and there's areas outside the box where we need to create more from. So it’s up to us now to go, ‘Ok, that’s what it’s saying, this is what the evidence and the data is showing us, so now can we go and get the recruitment right to give us a chance that when we’re playing so well we make the most of the opportunities.’
“We don’t want déjà vu. We don't want to be in this position again and I keep saying it. There's a lot of good going on in our team, a lot. We were up in the top six for clean sheets, we were up in the top six for set play goals. There is a lot of stuff about the team that you can work with – but there are areas as well that are glaringly obvious where we can improve.
“So if we can get that right and we can go and get the right personnel – and you get a bit of luck as well, by the way – and you get your signings right then we'll have a chance of doing better next year.”
The senior squad as it stands
GK: Viktor Johansson, Jack Bonham, Frank Fielding, Scott Morris, Tommy Simkin.
RB: Junior Tchamadeu, Lynden Gooch.
LB: Enda Stevens, Liam McCarron.
CB: Ben Gibson, Michael Rose, Ben Wilmot, David Okagbue, Matty Baker.
CM: Wouter Burger, Josh Laurent, Jordan Thompson, Lewis Baker, Ben Pearson, Daniel Johnson, Sol Sidibe.
RW: Million Manhoef, Mehdi Leris, Nikola Jojic.
LW: Bae Junho, Andre Vidigal.
CF: Ryan Mmaee, Niall Ennis, Nathan Lowe, Emre Tezgel.
Players linked to Stoke so far
The pundit's view on Stoke's transfer window
Mike Pejic wrote in his Sentinel column: "We’ve got a goalkeeper signed up for starters and it is pretty clear where the manager thinks is the most important position to address. Tyrese Campbell was released because Stoke need a main striker or two who they can really rely on across a 46-match season.
"It is the easy part to spot that. The hard part is to find them and bring them in, particularly when your budget is constrained by Financial Fair Play rules. This is where you need your scouting network. The players are out there and it’s their job to spot the ones who could fit precisely into the coach’s plans, probably with a little bit of polishing.
"The forwards who are already scoring 20 times a year in the Championship will be out of our budget at the moment but you don’t just look at scoring goals when you’re up in the stands and taking notes of potential targets. You look at team play and attributes and you get references about character and work rate."
