Stoke City backed to sell star as "£1.5m" price-tag is mooted | OneFootball

Mmaee is reportedly set to leave the Potters soon after an injury-hit campaign

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Stoke City have been urged to sell outcast striker Ryan Mmaee for at least £1.5 million this summer, following new reports that he is free to leave the club in the upcoming transfer window after an injury-hit campaign that saw him fail to appear regularly for the Potters.

The Potters were able to seal their survival with a draw at Derby County on the final day of the Championship season last weekend, and planning has clearly already begun for next term after their retained list was released on Monday afternoon, with the likes of Jordan Thompson and Lynden Gooch set to depart.

Mark Robins has a big job on his hands this summer, with an overhaul of his squad set to take place, and out-of-favour centre-forward Mmaee seemingly has no future at the club and is set to leave ST4 in the coming months.

Potters

Mmaee joined the Potters on a three-year deal for a reported initial fee of £1.75 million from Hungarian champions Ferencvaros in the summer of 2023, but has struggled to ever impress in red and white in the nearly two years that have followed.

He failed to nail down a consistent starting spot in his maiden campaign at the club, and was dropped from the senior squad at the start of last year due to attitude issues, but did figure in Steven Schumacher's plans at the start of this season after recovering from injury.

Despite his return to the squad, the arrival of Leicester City loanee Tom Cannon soon saw Stoke allow Mmaee to join Rapid Vienna on loan for the season. He failed to play even once for the Austrian side due to more injury issues, and so returned to the Potteries in February as his temporary spell was terminated by mutual consent.

The 27-year-old did not make a single appearance in the second-half of the season under boss Robins, despite featuring on the bench on numerous occasions.

Now, with the season over, TEAMtalk have recently revealed that Mmaee has been told he will be sold by Stoke this summer. Their sources state that the Moroccan international has already received plenty of interest and will have no issues finding a new club soon.

He has just one year left on his current Stoke deal, so it will surely not take a sizeable fee to sign him in the months to come, given his lack of game-time and impact over the last two years.

FLW's Potters fan pundit, Sam Harrison, believes it is the correct decision to let him depart, but is unsure if the club will be able to make a profit on his services, with a fee of at least £1.5m mooted as acceptable for the 27-year-old to leave before next season.

“I think it is the right call. I just don’t think it has clicked. Obviously last season he came in with a number of other players as well," Sam told FLW.

“Last season, we saw it where he was in the right positions, but just didn’t manage to find the back of the net enough.

“You look and think, well Tom Cannon did when he came in on loan, he came in and was scoring, was in the right place at the right time.

“I just think that, under Mark Robins, if it doesn’t click, you hear rumours of is it do with a bad attitude with Mmaee, or is there an ego there, and Robins won’t want that.

“He’ll want a team player, someone who is going to be willing to sacrifice. I think (him leaving) makes room for more players to come in that are going to suit Robins’ style, and maybe he just doesn’t.

“In terms of the £1.75 million we paid for him, it’s tough. You obviously look at the current market where there is money flying around everywhere, but I think Stoke just need to offload players and get the money in for them so we can give Mark Robins the opportunity to bring in his own players.

“So I think it is one where, would the team (Rapid Vienna) that he went on loan to be willing to go back in for him?

“If Stoke can get maybe £1.5m, obviously we would want to make a profit on him, and if we could get £2m or £2.5m then that would be great, but I think it is one where, how (low) are Stoke willing to go to in order to offload players?

“If we can make a profit on him, then great, but how much impact have his injuries had? I’m not too sure. If we can get money for him, that would be great.”

Mark Robins is right to offload Mmaee but Stoke will struggle to turn a profit

Stoke supporters had reasons to be excited by Mmaee's signing in the summer of 2023, amid an influx of new additions from overseas, with his impressive goal record at Ferencvaros and AEL Limassol making the reported £1.75m fee paid for him seem like a potential steal.

He scored 32 times in 73 games for the Hungarian side in the two years prior to his Potteries switch, but he never truly took to English football after a tough start in which he was in and out of the team under Alex Neil and then Schumacher.

The 27-year-old registered four goals and four assists in 27 games in all competitions in his first season at the bet365 Stadium, while he was banished from first-team action by the ex-Plymouth Argyle boss for a month in February due to apparent poor discipline in training.

He did not complete a full pre-season last summer due to injury, but looked set to be a permanent fixture in Schumacher's squad this season after returning to the fold and even bagging his first goal of the campaign in a 5-0 rout of Middlesbrough in the EFL Cup in August.

Despite his apparent revival, he was linked to Saudi Arabian side Al-Kholood and received reported transfer interest from Ligue 1 sides Angers and Stade Brestois ahead of the new season, but was believed to have no intention of leaving until he joined Rapid Vienna late in the window.

His time in Austria never got off the ground, as injuries restricted him from even playing for the capital club. His return to Stoke in February took many fans by surprise, but it looked to be a potentially smart decision with the Potters lacking firepower up front in their relegation battle.

As it turned out, Robins did not see fit to call on Mmaee to make an impact over the last few months, despite including him in three different Championship matchday squads. His lack of game-time seemed pretty indicative of Stoke's plans for him going forward past this summer, and so it is no surprise to see him set to depart soon.

Stoke have been unable to get the best out of Mmaee, but whether that comes down to coaching, his own attitude, or a bit of both, remains unclear. He does know where the net is, and will surely be an attractive option for clubs on the continent at a certain level that need a striker with experience and quality.

Whether interested sides will be happy to sign him for a sizeable relative fee this summer remains to be seen, and it seems possible that he leaves on loan in the next few months to take him to the end of his Potters contract next year, where he would then leave on a free transfer to end a tough three years in North Staffordshire.