Stoke City transfer state of play as Championship clubs brace for step up in activity

Steven Schumacher oversees his first pre-season friendly for Stoke City this week but he has had to be patient in the transfer market

Stoke City are having to be a little bit more patient than they would probably like in the transfer market as Premier League clubs hold onto players until internationals return from the European Championships and Copa America.

Stoke – in their first summer window under Jon Walters and Steven Schumacher and with Lee Darnbrough joining as new head of recruitment – made an encouraging start with additions in three key areas at the top of their hit list: goalkeeper Viktor Johansson, centre-half Ben Gibson and left-back Eric Bocat.

But business has been fairly slow across the Championship over the last week or so as clubs returned for pre-season training. Stoke have their first warm-up game tomorrow night at Chester (7.45pm) before flying out for a week-long camp in Cork at the weekend.

Negotiations should speed up after this weekend and beyond as top flight squads are boosted in numbers and managers can afford to loosen their grip on young players and fringe men who will be within the reach of Stoke and their rivals. Stoke are expected to be shopping in that market for a new centre-forward following the release of Tyrese Campbell and Wesley.