Stoke City eyeing £3m Wigan Athletic transfer swoop | OneFootball

Thelo Aasgaard is thought to be on the Potters' radar, ahead of the January window.

Stoke City are eyeing a move for Wigan Athletic attacking midfielder Thelo Aasgaard.

This is according to Alan Nixon, who believes the Potters may have to fork out a considerable fee to give themselves the best chance of luring him to the bet365 Stadium in January.

Aasgaard has already managed to get himself on the scoresheet a number of times for the Latics during the early stages of the 2024/25 campaign and has a chance of beating his goalscoring tally from last season.

Registering three goals in 13 league appearances, most recently getting himself on the scoresheet against Mansfield Town, he was also able to score in an EFL Cup game earlier this term.

And clearly, he is a vital player at the DW Stadium for Shaun Maloney.

Unfortunately, Wigan may end up becoming the victims of their own success with Aasgaard, because he's continuing to impress and that has allowed him to attract interest from elsewhere.

Stoke City take interest in Thelo Aasgaard

Despite getting themselves on the scoresheet against Portsmouth six times earlier this term, Stoke have only scored 15 goals in 13 league games.

Winning 2-1 against Derby County yesterday, the Potters will be happier with their performance in the attacking third, but they may still be on the prowl for more firepower during the January window.

Aasgaard, a player Stoke's Jon Walters and Lee Darnborough watched in action last week, is believed to be on the Staffordshire outfit's radar.

However, he is expected to cost £3m, and it remains to be seen whether the Championship side are willing to pay anything in that region for the 22-year-old.

Stoke are seemingly keeping their options open, even sending scouts to Ukraine to look out for potential bargains in recent weeks.

And it has also been reported by Nixon that Stoke are planning to make an offer to retain Tom Cannon when his loan comes under review during the winter window, with Leicester City likely to be keeping a close eye on his progress.

Wigan Athletic are justified in taking tough Thelo Aasgaard stance

The player only put pen to paper on a new long-term deal last year.

With his current contract not expiring until the summer of 2028, it makes total sense for the Latics to retain a fairly tough stance on him.

In fact, they could probably afford to raise his price tag further.

Not only does his contract situation allow Wigan to charge whatever they want for him, but it may also give them an advantage when discussing potential clauses in the deal.

Add-ons within the deal to provide the club with a financial boost in the future would be ideal for them - and a sell-on clause could also be worth putting in any potential deal.

The Norwegian is only 22 at this point and has plenty of time to grow into an even better player. With this in mind, it would probably be foolish not to include a sell-on clause.

Stoke will have to pay big if they want to secure Aasgaard's signature in January - and rightly so.