Football League World
·16 August 2024
Stoke City set to secure Brighton and Hove Albion transfer agreement
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Football League World
·16 August 2024
The Potters are getting a young player with Championship experience.
Stoke City are now expected to complete the signing of Brighton & Hove Albion youngster Andrew Moran.
The former Blackburn Rovers loanee is scheduled to have another temporary spell in the Championship, this time under the tutelage of Steven Schumacher, according to John Percy of The Telegraph.
Moran, 20, was linked with the Potters as well as second tier rivals Bristol City a couple of days ago by The Athletic's Andy Naylor. He stated that both clubs were keen on getting the midfielder, who made his debut for the Republic of Ireland against New Zealand in November.
Stoke are now set to beat the Robins to Moran, making it seven signings for Schumacher this summer.
The player is scheduled to undergo a medical with City today (Friday, 16th August) with the deal for his switch from the south coast to the bet365 stadium set to be sealed before the weekend, according to Percy.
Midfield isn't an area of the pitch that Stoke are particularly weak on, but some of their generals in the middle of the pitch have been linked with moves away from the club throughout the summer.
Lewis Baker was a reported target of Moran's former loan side Blackburn, according to Alan Nixon, but they are said to want £2.5 million for the former Chelsea player.
The club had reportedly accepted an offer from Turkish side Sivasspor for Josh Laurent. Nothing ever came of it though as the 29-year-old rejected the chance to move to the Süper Lig.
Moran, who has made his Premier League debut for his parent club, played 35 times for Blackburn last time out, netting two goals and providing six assists in his spell at Ewood Park.
He is a versatile creative midfielder - someone Schumacher could either use centrally or out wide, as was proven during his time with Rovers.
The 20-year-old won't be Stoke's first Premier League loan addition of the summer. Liverpool teen Lewis Koumas joined the Potters last weekend, making his debut against Carlisle United in a 2-0 win over the Cumbrian side in the EFL Cup.
Some strong additions have been made to this side that was a bit too close to the drop zone for comfort in the previous campaign.
Viktor Johansson is as much of a guaranteed good signing as you can get in this division, Eric Bocat has shown early, impressive signs and then there are the likes of Koumas and Bosun Lawal, who recently joined from Celtic after a loan spell with Fleetwood Town in League One last season.
The Championship is expected to be much more competitive this season though, from the top to the bottom. It's not likely that there's going to be such a gaping chasm between the top teams and the bottom teams that they really shouldn't be in the same league.
With that type of division, your luck can swing you either way. At the moment, with the additions that Stoke have made, they will probably be happy with their relative position, but they aren't totally safe yet.