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Stoke City Fan View: 3 players Mark Hughes must get rid of
Stoke City blogger Tomos Knox on a trio of players the Potters must offload if they are to become a Premier League force
To guarantee success in the Premier League, sacrifices need to be made whether it's down to age, ability, or incompatibility.
Recently, there have been are several players of this sort in the Stoke side, the likes of Peter Odemwingie, Wilson Palacios and Maurice Edu all remaining at the Britannia far longer than necessary.
But they are not the only ones and there are three current squad members who need to go if we are to build a squad capable of getting a European place.
Peter Crouch
Sentiment aside, the fact is that Crouch is a liability in this Stoke side. A veteran striker, famed for his aerial prowess, he has had a tremendous career and has been instrumental for the Potters i recent years, but the fact remains that at 35, he's too old to play a long-term role.
With the signing of West Brom's Saido Berahino seeming very tangible at present, Crouch simply won't get the first-team football that feels he meritsr. He only made 11 league appearances last year, and failed to net in any of those matches, reinforcing the belief that an age has been reached in which Premiership football is too much for him.
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Sadly, it's time for our celebrated, heroic striker to make his way to pastures new.
Dionatan Texeira
Originally touted as a highly-promising young footballer, Texeira has failed to live up to his potential, and finds himself in the awkward position of a 23-year-old still unable to break into the first-team.
Loaned out to League 1 Fleetwood Town for a part of last season, the naturalised-Slovak has, sadly, not become what manager Mark Hughes would have hoped for, and it's probably best that he leaves now - largely for his own benefit. It's a great shame, but with just the two matches under his belt for the Potters in almost two years, it has to be conceded that Stoke made a bad investment.
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Stephen Ireland
With Afellay, Whelan, Imbula, and Adam all standing ahead of Ireland in the starting line-up as it is, the Irishman’s hopes ahead of next season could be dashed yet again with Joe Allen also signing.
Once a regular starter for Stoke, he's fallen out of the first-team frame and this doesn't look set to change. It goes without saying that the Irish international is up to Premier League standards and saying that he'd be best leaving is a hard call to make.
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However, judging by the sheer amount of competition he'll face, it's difficult to visualise Hughes giving him much of an opportunity this season. I could personally see him making a positive contribution to a side such as Crystal Palace or perhaps Bournemouth but with Stoke investing vast amounts of cash as they seek to build a new-look team, Ireland’s chances of first-team football have never seemed so low. It's a shame, but after three good seasons at the Britannia Stadium, it may finally be time for him to go.
