Sadly for Potters fans, it’s not Jonathan Woodgate and Craig Gordon. However, it’s clear that Stoke are assembling a substantial list of players that they want to sign over the next few weeks, including Anthony Gardner and Marton Fulop.
Gardner only managed a handful of matches for Tottenham last season, and actually went to Everton on loan for the second half of the season. According to ITV, City could expect to land the centre half for around £1.5million. Likewise, Fulop was always going to be struggling to play first-team football after the club signed Gordon, and could move for £2million.
Stoke manager Tony Pulis has revealed all:
“There are first-choice players for particular positions, but also provisional targets if we cannot land number one,” he told The Sentinel.
“I know supporters might be asking where are the signings, but I can assure them a lot of work is being done under the surface.
“Over the past six weeks or so we have been drawing up a list and making our moves behind the scenes.
“We have listened to what everybody has got to say and from that I’ve now narrowed it down to what I want. Some names have been mentioned, some haven’t.
“Changes will have to be made to the squad because we’re playing at a different level now.”
It’s good to see Pulis is not naive enough to think that the squad that helped Stoke gain promotion can finish any better than 20th place next season. It appears that a huge influx of players are on the cards in Staffordshire, but will the likes of Gardner and Fulop be enough to see them stay afloat?