Stoke City player set to seal post-window exit | OneFootball

Ryan Mmaee is reportedly set to depart the bet365 Stadium

Stoke City striker Ryan Mmaee is set to depart the Potteries on loan to Austrian giants Rapid Wien after a turbulent first 12 months at the club.

Mmaee joined the Potters on a three-year deal for a reported fee of £1.75m last summer from Hungarian champions Ferencvaros, but has struggled to nail down a consistent starting spot under Alex Neil or Steven Schumacher since his arrival and was even dropped from the senior squad at the turn of the year due to attitude issues, then later reinstated.

He has returned to the fold following injury in recent weeks, but looks set to depart now with Stoke seeing fit to allow him to move on for the season.

Ryan Mmaee transfer latest

TEAMtalk journalist Fraser Gillan has reported that Rapid Wien are finalising talks to sign Mmaee on loan, and that an option to buy will be included in the contract with the 26-year-old now just waiting for the green light from Stoke to travel to Austria.

Gillan has also claimed that there will be a recall option in place for January, should Stoke need to bring him back to the bet365 Stadium.

Mmaee looked likely to depart the club earlier in the window after L'Equipe reporter Loic Tanzi stated that Saudi Arabian side Al-Kholood had started steps to sign him, but no continued talk of an exit and new developments over the last few weeks meant that it seemed more likely that Stoke had chosen to keep him around.

Just a week ago, Gillan himself reported that the Moroccan international had received transfer interest from Ligue 1 sides Angers and Stade Brestois over the summer, but had no intention of leaving and wanted to show what he can do in the Potteries this season.

Tom Cannon has arrived at the club on loan from Leicester City since then though, and his late addition will likely have changed Stoke's plans regarding Mmaee and his short-term future at the club.

Mmaee looked set for Stoke revival

News of Mmaee's pending exit will likely come as a surprise to Potters fans, as despite his previous struggles, he has come back into the starting fold under Schumacher this season and was believed to be set to fight for his place in the squad in the months to come.

The 26-year-old has never truly taken to English football after a tough start in which he was in and out of the team, and he registered just four goals and four assists in 28 games in all competitions in his first season at the bet365 Stadium, while also being banished from first-team action for a month in February due to apparent poor discipline in training.

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

Mmaee was handed another starting berth away at Plymouth Argyle over the weekend, but with Cannon due to make his debut in Stoke's next game at Oxford United, new signing Sam Gallagher soon set to return from injury and both Emre Tezgel and Niall Ennis also vying for places up-front, his playing-time could be limited and so the club have seemingly seen fit to allow him to leave.