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Stoke City plot international plan in transfer market
Jon Walters wants to see more Stoke City players dashing off to play for their countries as he looks to use the transfer market to help set ‘an elite mindset’ in the changing room.
Stoke waved 11 players off for international duty over the last week and sporting director Walters knows from first-hand experience what a knock-on impact that can make when they report back to Clayton Wood.
Five of Stoke’s 10 summer signings were called up this month while Republic of Ireland have high hopes for Bosun Lawal, Japan scouts are keeping track of Tatsuki Seko’s progress in the Championship and Ben Gibson has previously been in England squads.
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Bae Junho and Viktor Johansson’s statuses are quickly growing with South Korea and Sweden respectively while Andrew Moran and Tom Cannon have both been brought back into the Ireland group thanks to their performances with Stoke. Stoke youth players Sol Sidibe and Jaden Dixon (both England under-17s) and Darius Lipsiuc (Ireland under-21s) are being closely monitored too.
“One thing I want to bring, would like to bring into the squad, is international players,” said Walters. “There is a next level mentality, an elite mentality, when players come back having performed on the big stage. That was a big thing for me as a player.
“Viktor’s become number one for Sweden and is doing really well, I saw a stat that Junho has had more goal contributions than any other player in South Korea’s last five games. Andy, who we’ve borrowed from Brighton – and can we have him for the next five years please! – he’s next level. He’s going to be top level. Tom is producing for us, seven goals and already matched last year’s top scorer. Having that international mindset in the changing room, that we’re elite and we want to come back fit and healthy and bring that with us for Stoke City.”
Stoke’s recruitment department is already making plans for business in January while keeping an eye on the balance of the squad and what is needed, particularly with Sam Gallagher, Bosun Lawal, Lynden Gooch and Ben Pearson still to add as they return from injury.
Walters said: “I said that we weren’t going to do everything in one window and we did 10 players in the summer. We’ve got younger players developing too and we’re hoping we’ll see more game time for them. We’re in a good place. There are injuries coming back too: Sam, Bosun, Lynden, Ben, a couple of niggly ones that we’ll be fine with.
“But you’re always looking to add quality, always looking to improve so we’ll see. It’s got to be the right person for Stoke, not just making a signing for signing’s sake. They’ve got to fit into our mentality, have that elite mindset, to shift where the club has been in the last few years. It’s a difficult thing to do. Players you bring in have got to be hungry.”
