While most of the national media have been frothing over the drama of Dimitar Berbatov moving from Tottenham to Manchester United and neighbours Manchester City’s astonishing swoop for Robinho from Real Madrid, over in the Potteries Stoke City were involved in their own transfer deadline day maelstrom. Could Tony Pulis bring in the faces that might help the Potters avoid relegation from the Premiership after only one season?
From 7pm my monitoring of the situation was constant. Sky Sports News remained on the television, while the laptop in the lounge kept tabs on the Stoke City official site, Oatcake fanzine messageboard, BBC Sport Football Transfer Live Text, and Sky Sports Deadline Clock Watch simultaneously. The tension mounted as midnight approached, the sums Stoke were allegedly offering are still hard to grasp. Stoke fans are used to no news deadline days, or aged journey men arriving either for free or “nominal fees”, in otherwise a few grand and a dozen oatcakes. But this year Stoke had a dedicated Sky reporter outside the Britannia Stadium, and after the Manchester clubs must have received the most interest as bids of £5 million and then £6 million for Cardiff’s midfielder Joe Ledley flew from the Potters’ fax machine.
Yet as I now turn in for the night it seems a bit of an anti-climax, possibly a disappointment. The latest news at 01:15 is:
- Cardiff City turned down a £6m bid for Ledley refusing Stoke permission to talk to the player
- Wigan Athletic also were unwilling to sell striker Henri Camara after Stoke showed late interest
- Defender Danny Higginbotham rejoined Stoke from Sunderland for a fee believed to be around £2.5m
- Midfielder Tom Soares arrived at 8:30pm and was signed from Crystal Palace just in time before midnight for £1.25m
- Another late move saw midfielder Michael Tonge bought from Sheffield Utd for £2m
- Jon “The Beast” Parkin left Stoke to join Preston North End permanently after an initial loan
Stoke have added to their squad, but will it be enough? More analysis and comment after a much needed sleep.
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