Stoke City cannot afford to repeat £30m transfer mistake with Mark Robins' key man | OneFootball

The Potters must not make the same mistake with Viktor Johansson as they did with Jack Butland

Stoke City are blessed with one of the best goalkeepers in the Championship right now in Viktor Johansson, and while all connected to the club will want to keep him in the Potteries this summer, they must sell him if they are offered the right fee to avoid a similar situation to that of Jack Butland from years ago.

Johansson, who is Sweden's first-choice in-between the sticks, joined Stoke from Rotherham United for a reported initial £750,000 fee, with potential add-ons taking it beyond the £1 million mark, last summer, as they beat off strong competition to bring him in not long after the 2023/24 season had ended.

His performances since he made the switch to the bet365 Stadium have been nothing short of extraordinary, and he has been able to consistently bail his side out of sticky situations this season amid genuine relegation fears. He will surely be on the radar of numerous higher-placed clubs when the summer transfer window rolls around.

The Potters' current situation feels similar to the one they experienced while Jack Butland was on the rise as a young England international and touted to be one of the next top Premier League goalkeepers. Butland impressed for Stoke as a youngster from 2015 to 2017, but the club decided not to sell him at any point while in the top flight.

Instead, the Bristol-born shot-stopper stayed with Stoke for too long and was eventually sold to Crystal Palace in 2020 for a fee much lower than what had been mooted in years previous. The Potters cannot let the same thing happen with Johansson, particularly given their current financial woes.

Stoke could have sold Jack Butland for £30m - instead he left for £1m

Butland joined Stoke as a 19-year-old from Birmingham City in 2013 and went on to become the Potters' number one from 2015/16 onwards. His first campaign as Mark Hughes' first choice saw him make 35 appearances and be named as the club's Player of the Season, despite suffering a long-term ankle injury on international duty with England in March 2016.

Butland returned to action at the end of the next campaign and continued as first choice for 2017/18 despite Lee Grant's great performances in his absence. Hughes' persistence with him arguably worked against the Potters that season, as he made numerous high-profile mistakes and the club were relegated to the Championship.

Stoke had been reluctant to sell Butland throughout his time at the club, but as soon as they were relegated, they should have parted ways for the greater good of his own career and their finances. They instead reportedly refused to budge from their sizeable £30m valuation of his talents in 2018, amid interest from Chelsea and Wolves, and so he remained in ST4 for their return to the second-tier.

Butland played well for the Potters in the Championship and was named as their Player of the Season after the club failed to mount a widely-expected promotion challenge. Stoke again held out for big money in the 2019 summer window, and this time Aston Villa were put off by their £25m demands.

His poor form in 2019/20 saw him dropped as number one by Nathan Jones, and despite being reinstated and playing better under Michael O'Neill, those previously interested clubs had moved on from him as an option for such a high fee.

Butland's price-tag had plummeted to a measly £1m by the time he was sold to Crystal Palace in October 2020 with less than a year left on his Potters contract. He has since managed to revive his career at Scottish giants Rangers, but many Stoke fans, and probably the now-32-year-old himself, have been left wondering what could have been if he had been sold on sooner.

Stoke must have a price for Viktor Johansson despite his outstanding form

Fast-forward to the present day, and Stoke have their new Butland in the form of Swedish international Johansson. He is continuing the club's great legacy of top keepers with his brilliant performances that are no doubt catching the attention of clubs at home and abroad ahead of the summer window.

Johansson was already rated as one of the Championship's better shot-stoppers in his four years at Rotherham prior to his move to ST4 last year, but his performances have gone up another level altogether this season. They have simply had to be outstanding, as the Potters would probably already be relegated if not.

The 26-year-old has, by far and away, been the Potters' best performer this season and has even donned the captain's armband in recent months under Mark Robins in Ben Gibson's absence. He is already a shoo-in for the club's Player of the Season award, regardless of what happens between now and May.

Stoke supporters, and Robins alike, will want to see minimal talk of his potential exit from now and the end of the season as the club aim to avoid relegation to League One, but he will be linked away even if they stay up, and is an almost guaranteed departure if they go down.

What has to be clear is that he has an exit price, and the club will be happy to let him leave at that fee, whether it be £8m, £10m, or even more. If an interested team offers a fee that seems acceptable based on his talent, potential to get even better and relative performances compared to other Championship keepers, they must accept it.

The club needs big sales to stay in line with financial fair play (FFP), and they are not exactly in a good position on the pitch to be able to keep their star players. They must avoid a situation similar to that of Butland's from numerous years ago, where they keep Johansson amid serious interest and his value potentially decreases as time goes on.