Stoke City close in on international striker as fifth signing of the summer
Transfer news from Clayton Wood as Stoke City look to seal deal for Slovakia front man Robert Bozenik from Boavista
Stoke City are now hopeful of making Slovakia striker Robert Bozenik their fifth signing of the summer.
Stoke are believed to have been working on a deal for the 25-year-old forward all through the summer but it has been a complicated process, particularly because of his contract situation at crisis club Boavista.
He has not technically been a free agent, despite reports to the contrary, and there has been a tangle of red tape to negotiate as well as serious interest from other parties. At points even this week it seemed like it might not get over the line.
Bozenik has previously had other moves fall through at the last minute, including to Seville and Real Salt Lake, but Stoke have hopefully overcome hurdles and will now be able to bring him into Mark Robins’ evolving squad.
He has spent the last two seasons playing in the Portugal top flight, being named Boavista player of the year in 2024. He had previously played at Feyenoord as well as a spell on loan at Fortuna Dusseldorf, after coming through the ranks at Slovakian club Zilina, where he has been training recently to keep fit.
He is 6ft 2in and athletic, winning 52 caps and playing at Euro 2024 last summer – leading the line in an opening group game win over Belgium and playing against England when Jude Bellingham scored a 95th minute winner.
Robins and Jon Walters have so far brought in Sorba Thomas, Maksym Talovierov and Aaron Cresswell on permanent deals this window and secured a season-long loan for Divin Mubama.
Stoke have been able to secure the sale of Wouter Burger to help cash flow as they deal with financial fair play constraints and his exit creates a vacancy in central midfield, particularly with Sol Sidibe’s situation still to be resolved. That might not be filled instantly but it is fair to say that the recruitment team has been preparing for all eventualities.
Robins will also want to make sure he is well covered at centre-half and right-back.
Emre Tezgel is expected to seal a loan move as he looks to play regularly in the next stage of his development after signing a new contract at Stoke. There is plenty of interest in Nathan Lowe too if Stoke sanction a loan to League One once they have Bozenik in the building.
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