Stoke City working in background on another ‘huge’ summer transfer window
News from bet365 Stadium as Steven Schumacher prepares for crucial final 12 games of the season to try to keep Stoke City in the Championship
Steven Schumacher, with focus on the short-term, is still aware that another huge summer transfer window looms on the horizon for Stoke City.
Stoke are in the middle of a dogfight to make sure their summer planning takes place in the Championship, with 12 games remaining to pull clear of the relegation zone starting at home against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
The squad has been overhauled almost annually over the last six years but never previously to the extent of the last 12 months, when there have been 24 new signings. Schumacher expects that to be scaled well back over the coming months – but still massive by another definition.
“It’s huge in terms of the importance and getting the decisions right,” said the head coach. “I can’t imagine there will be a massive turnaround in players because that happened last year. But we have to make sure we get the right type of player that’s going to play in the way we want to play. It’s important we get those decisions right and get the right profile and personality for everyone we try to bring in.”
Stoke have 14 senior players coming to the end of their current deals at the end of this season, including five loanees, Tom Edwards, who is out on loan at relegation rivals Huddersfield Town, and D’Margio Wright-Phillips, who is on loan at Beerschot.
Jordan Thompson and Tyrese Campbell have featured most prominently of the permanent players in the last four months of their contracts, while Enda Stevens, Wesley and Ciaran Clark have only made fleeting appearances on one-year deals. Blondy Nna Noukeu and Frank Fielding will also be free agents.
Even without counting those 14, Stoke will still have 20 players on their books who have been around the first team this season but there will be a need to find a better balance – and that will be the case regardless of the division.
It means work carries on for head of recruitment Jared Dublin and Mama Sidibe and Scott Coomber in his team, liaising when possible with Schumacher and now interim technical director Jon Walters, as well as joint-chairman John Coates.
Schumacher can concentrate on picking up enough points for survival, saying: “You look at what’s the highest priority and for now that’s the next game. We get into that and then over the weekend you speak to the recruitment department, how are we getting on, which players played well that we’re watching. You get into Monday and Tuesday and you have meetings on that and by Tuesday afternoon it’s back to planning for the next game.
