Stoke City set 7-figure Lewis Baker price-tag as double Blackburn Rovers swoop possible | OneFootball

The Potters aren't letting their midfield general leave for cheap.

Highlights

Stoke City have slapped a £2.5 million price tag on Blackburn Rovers target Lewis Baker, as Steven Schumacher's side eye up a potential double Ewood Park move for Lewis Travis and Sam Gallagher.

The Sun journalist Alan Nixon has stated, via his Patreon, that, even though Baker is into the final year of his current deal with the Potters, Stoke want a seven-figure fee for the midfielder.

He'd previously reported on Rovers' interest in the 29-year-old and said that John Eustace was a big fan of Baker.

There has appeared to be some conflict in Lancashire about their transfer strategy, as the boss has primarily looked at adding players with experience, like Baker, Kyle McFadzean, Danny Batth and others, while others in the Blackburn hierarchy have wanted to target younger players, as per Nixon.

This lack of clarity, compared to a less than hefty budget, has given them quite a slow start to the summer window. The only signing that they have made so far has been 22-year-old former Everton goalkeeper Jack Barrett.

Stoke set Lewis Baker price tag as they eye midfield swap

The seven-figure fee that the Potters are reported to want for the sale of Baker is higher than some may have expected, especially Blackburn, given his contractual situation. They are said to have been put off a bit by the asking price.

According to the Stoke Sentinel, the Lancashire side's supposed interest in the former Chelsea academy man isn't the case.

Nixon had stated that Blackburn had a few pieces that they could look to use as part of a deal for Baker, and he has now reported that City like Lewis Travis.

They are already expected to complete a £1.5 million deal for Rovers forward Gallagher, as per the Sun journalist, and they could double their summer incomings from Ewood Park with a move for Travis.

The midfielder spent the second half of last season on loan at Ipswich Town. He played in nine games for the promotion winners last time out.

Stoke could have been at risk of losing another one of their options in the centre of the park, had Birmingham followed up on their reported interest in Josh Laurent.

The League One outfit have since bought Brighton & Hove Albion's young midfield maestro Marc Leonard, and they have moved on from Laurent, as per the Sentinel.

Stoke & Blackburn's prospective swap deal doesn't make for great optics for fans

Both sets of supporters and the staff of the respective sides would probably both admit they were too close to the drop zone last time out. City had a bit more breathing room, but Rovers' safety was only secured on the final day of the season.

They were two of the many relegation candidates at the end of last season and they will both be trying to improve on that next time out. That is easier said than done, but acquiring players who were also involved in the same scrap at the bottom of the table isn't an amazing way to try and pull your way up the Championship table.

Travis is a bit of an exception to that because of his brief loan spell, but this back and forth swapping of players isn't going to do too much to make either set of fans think that they are going to come on leaps and bounds compared to the previous campaign.