How Stoke City could free up £15k p/w on their wage bill in January | OneFootball

FLW looks at two players Stoke should be looking to offload in the upcoming transfer window

In recent seasons, Stoke City's squad has become a mass amalgamation of players recruited by a number of managers.

Since suffering relegation from the Premier League back in 2017/18, the Potters are still yet to assert themselves as a dominant force in the Championship, despite the fact that many expected them to do just that in their first campaign back at this level, six years ago.

Fast-forward to the present day, and the North Staffordshire outfit are now under the guidance of their sixth permanent manager or head coach in that timeframe, having appointed former Norwich City and Huddersfield Town assistant, Narcis Pelach, in early September following the shock dismissal of his predecessor, Steven Schumacher.

During what was the Liverpudlian's second and final transfer window in charge at the Bet365 Stadium, the club saw a high turnover of players as 10 new recruits, such as Viktor Johansson, Ben Gibson and Tom Cannon, among others, replaced 13 outgoings which included Mehdi Leris, Wesley Moraes, Tyrese Campbell and Daniel Johnson.

Of course, given the inconsistencies which have once again come to the fore in the opening months of this season for Stoke, there's no doubt that Pelach will want to have as much financial scope in January to continue moulding the squad into one he can very much call his own.

With that being said, Football League World have pinpointed two players who could reduce the wage bill in North Staffordshire by approximately £15,000 per week if they were to depart.

Niall Ennis

Centre-forward Niall Ennis was recruited by the aforementioned Schumacher on Deadline Day last February in an attempt to aid Stoke's survival bid, having previously worked with the former City boss at Plymouth Argyle.

Despite signing a two-and-a-half year deal in the process of his transfer from Blackburn Rovers, in which the fee remains undisclosed, Ennis' impact at the Bet365 has been extremely minimal, to say the least.

It was clear how highly-rated the 25-year-old was by Schumacher, who opted to utilise his services on 14 occasions after making the switch from Ewood Park, despite the fact that he would only find the net once - ironically against his former employers in a 3-1 defeat on February 10th.

And, as a result of Stoke acquiring the services of Cannon and Sam Gallagher, with the Leicester loanee in particular being the shining light in a poor start to the campaign under both managers, Ennis has seen himself fall way down the pecking order in such a short space of time, with his league gametime being reduced to minimal substitute cameos.

Furthermore, according to ESTIMATED figures from Capology, the Wolverhampton Wanderers academy product is taking up £8,000 per week of the club's overall payroll, which is said to amount to a total of £293,500.

Given a lack of gametime, and lack of quality when handed sparse opportunities, Pelach may feel that such funds could be spent in a wiser fashion come January.

Andre Vidigal

Andre Vidigal was one of 18 new signings in what was Alex Neil's final transfer window in charge of the club in the summer of 2023, joining from Portuguese outfit, Maritimo, on a three-year contract for a reported fee of £450,000.

Initially, the signing looked an inspired piece of business from the Scot, as the left-winger netted twice on his debut in a 4-1 rout over Rotherham United, before netting the winner against Watford just two weeks later.

However, after scoring a consolation against Hull City in September 2023, Vidigal and Stoke's form took a massive nosedive, as he would have to wait until Boxing Day for his next goal contribution against Birmingham City, before going just over four months without a goal until his crucial equaliser against West Bromwich Albion.

Under Neil and Schumacher, the 26-year-old made just 29 appearances last term, with just 18 of those coming from the start of games.

He would then fall out of favour under the former Plymouth boss, who highlighted that his lack of gametime could have been "limited", after being taken out of the matchday squad for five successive outings following an appearance on the bench in the opening game of the season against Coventry City.

It was understood that Vidigal declined offers from Turkey and Qatar to stay with the club, but he has also found gametime hard to come by despite a changing of the guard, with Pelach handing him extremely limited gametime off the bench on sporadic occasions.

Once again, whilst not being one of the highest earners at the club, Vidigal is still earning an estimated figure of £7,000 per week at the Bet365.