Stoke City: £7 million transfer did not pay off
Ryan Woods signed for Stoke for a big price tag, but never lived up to the expectation.
Stoke City continue to be in the Championship, failing to muster any hope of being promoted back to the Premier League.
The highest the club have finished in the second tier is 14th, on two occasions, since their relegation in 2018 from the top flight.
They have failed to get anywhere near the play-off places on multiple occasions now, despite being known for being one of the most ambitious, and subsequently largest spending, teams in the division.
A lot of Stoke’s signings since their relegation have come with a hefty transfer fee and plenty of expectation, wth many failing to live up to the hype.
A prime example of this is their signing in 2018, of Ryan Woods.
Woods starred as ‘ginger Pirlo’ early in his career
The defensive midfielder started his senior career at Shrewsbury Town, making his debut for the club in 2012.
But it was the 13/14 season where he really began breaking his way into the first team. He made 41 appearances as the club were relegated from League One.
The drop down in level to League Two gave Woods a platform to excel. The Shrews achieved promotion straight back to the third tier at the first time for asking, finishing second in League Two, therefore achieving promotion automatically.
His performances were loved by Salop fans, so much so they dubbed him the ‘the ginger Pirlo’, due to his excellent passing range.
The then 20-year-old’s performances caught the attention of teams higher up the pyramid, which led to him joining Brentford, then in the Championship. He signed for a reported fee of £1 million in September 2015.
He would go on to make over 100 appearances for the club, impressing at Griffin Park. He won the club’s Players’ Player of the Year for the 16/17 campaign, and the Supporters’ Player of the Year in 17/18.
This all led to his move to Stoke, signing on an initial loan deal in August 2018, signing permanently in January 2019 for a reported fee of £7 million.
Woods had big shoes to fill, but failed
Unfortunately for the Potters, Woods failed to show the qualities that he had done at Shrewsbury and Brentford, at the Bet365 Stadium.
He was one of the club’s first signings after their relegation, and was made temporary captain in Ryan Shawcross’ absence, as he was out through injury.
However, his form dropped off massively in the first half of the season, which led to him being dropped in the second half of the campaign.
Failing to nail a spot back in the starting eleven in his second season, his Stoke career looked over within a year and a half in Staffordshire.
He would be loaned out for the rest of that season and the whole of the next season to Millwall, before leaving permanently in the summer of 2021 for Birmingham City on a free transfer.
The now 30-year-old’s career has progressively gotten worse. After joining Hull City a year after he joined Birmingham, he struggled in his first season. He spent the first half of this season in League One with Bristol Rovers, which was unsuccessful, and is now on loan with Exeter City, as they fight the drop in the third tier.
