To compliment my weekly round-ups of Stoke City transfer rumours this summer, which really just give an overview, Ill take
Aaron Donald Jersey a deeper look at all the areas we need to strengthen, the players we have been linked with, and what they would mean to the club. I believe that within our present squad, we have the makings of a very presentable Premier League side, as was shown by our twelfth place finish last season. With Thomas Srensen having excelled in goal, Abdoulaye Faye and Ryan Shawcro s having dominated from the centre-back position, Ricardo Fuller and James Beattie having scored thirty goals between them, and Matthew Etherington and Liam Lawrence well established out wide, it seems likely that these players will form the core of our side to start the 2009/10 season in August, and that anysignings in their positions will be made mainly with strength in depth and healthy competition in mind.Faye and Beattie, two players sure to remain as first choice next term One area of the sidemanager Tony Pulisshould definitely look to strengthen is the centre of midfield. Towards the end of the season, Rory Delap and Glenn Whelan provided the core of the side. Delaps long throw obviously provides an important part of the way we approach the game, but by no means all of it as the more bitter and cynical members of the media would have you believe (if all the points gained from goals which resulted from his throws were removed, wed still have stayed up), but hell be 33 next month, andhis significance and level of contribution to theteam will naturally wane as he ages. Whelans play, meanwhile, is dangerously polarised, with cla sy cro s-field pa ses frequently going hand in hand with misplaced short balls and potentially costly mistakes. Therefore, there is room for at least one, and po sibly two new centre-midfielders to be signed.
We are already rumoured to be targeting a number of talented players in the position, with Cardiffs Joe Ledley, Mallorcas Juan Arango, Hadjuk Splits Senijad Ibrii and Pascal Feindouno, who currently plays for Al-Sadd in Qatar, looking the most likely targets. Though some rather le s appealing names, such as Alan Smith and the little known Swede Andrs Vasquez, have also been thrown into the hat, I am happy for us to be chasing these four players. Arango has shown his cla s in Spanish football and internationally for Venezuela, Feindouno has long been
Sam Shields Jersey his country, Guineas best player, while Ibrii is a very exciting prospect; aged 23 he has more than 50 career goals already from his favoured attacking midfield role. None of these three should cost more than around 4 million, which is very encouraging, as we could add a quality midfielder to our squad without making too much of a hole in our summer transfer budget.Despite his menacing looks, Arango could fit well into our convivial dre sing room The midfielder that we have been most strongly linked with, Ledley, is the one that I would be least happy for us to sign. Ive watched him on a number of occasions for Cardiff and Wales, and from what Ive seen Im not sure he could make the step up to impre s at Premier League level. He seems a rather insubstantial player, with a lot of good touches, but a lack of genuine contribution to the sides he plays for. Hes also the most expensive midfield target on our radar, with Cardiff setting an asking price of 6 million, which would make him our club record signing. Im not convinced that he would be worth anything like that much to us, and I have no desire for us to fill Cardiffs pockets, so perhaps he would be a player best left where he is. Our full-backs are
Sean Mannion Jersey also a concern. With club captain Andy Griffin set to leave the Britannia Stadium after falling out with Pulis, Andy Wilkinson is the only out and out right back in the squad. He held the position for the second half of last season, and for the most part gave a very good account of himself from it, his strong showings belying his youth and inexperience, and I, and most Stoke fans, would be happy to see him retain it. There is little doubt that we need to add depth in the position though, with the most likely target being Birminghams Stephen Kelly. He recently spent four months on loan at Stoke, from February till the end of the season, and despite doing little to win the hearts of the supporters, he seems to have impre sed Pulis, as we are widely tipped to be set to sign him for around 1 million. Hes very highly rated at Birmingham, and though some of his games for us, particularly his debut at Sunderland, were poor, I believe that fully sharp he could be a reasonable a
Brian Allen Jersey set to the club. I wouldnt like to see Wilkinson displaced, but if Kelly was content to be a second choice right-back, he would be a solid signing.Kelly is yet to prove his worth The left-back position is an equally great concern. It has been occupied by Danny Higginbotham recently, but it generally agreed that he plays best more centrally, and lacks the composure and the attacking edge to his game nece sary to truly shine in the role. Worryingly, with the only options to Higginbotham being another square peg in a round hole, Danny Pugh, and the very raw Carl Dickinson, we have not been linked with a single left-back yet this summer. Hopefully as the transfer window hots up, this will change, as Pulis must recognise that this is a problem that he must endeavour to rectify. As we look to consolidate as a Premier League club, it is important for the fans to be able to see that the chairman and manager have ambition to move forward. One way theyll achieve this is through showing their willingne s to target big name, expensive players, and happily, this has already
Marcus Peters Jersey been evident this summer. Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes was heavily linked with a move to Stoke as a player coach, and while this transfer now seems unlikely to happen, he would represent a major coup for the club, and it is very pleasing to see that we are targeting such high calibre players. The situation is similar regarding Valenciaforward Nikola igi, of whom Pulis is a long time admirer (well he is 68). He is a very good striker with an excellent goalscoring record and would most likely fit very well into our style of play. Rated at upwards of 10 million, signing him would positively smash our record expenditure, not to mention our wage budget, and I would be delighted if it happened. The signing of one well renowned player would also raise the estimation of Stoke City in the eyes of many other potential targets, making it even more vital for us to be prepared to target the best.The thought of Delap throws aimed at igi is enough to set the pulse racing We have also been linked with a number of wildcards, relatively unknown foreign based players, who wouldnt cost the earth, among them Sampdorias veteran midfielder Gennaro Delvecchio and Rose
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