"Messy" - Stoke City, Wouter Burger transfer prediction issued following Deadline Day saga | OneFootball

Our Potters fan pundit has given his thoughts on Burger's failed Deadline Day move to FC Midtjylland

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Stoke City have been told that they made a mistake with how they handled Wouter Burger's failed move away from the club on Deadline Day, but is hopeful that he can continue to be an important player under Mark Robins this season.

Stoke's transfer business over the last month was relatively low-key and uneventful, and their Deadline Day was turning out to be as quiet as many had predicted, until late news emerged of the situation surrounding central midfielder Burger's potential exit.

The 23-year-old, who has been a key man for Stoke despite dips in form over the last 12 months, had reportedly all but agreed a move to four-time Superliga champions FC Midtjylland with just hours of the window to go, but the Potters' hierarchy had then seemingly stopped the deal at the last moment.

Burger is now set to stay at Stoke until at least the end of the season, but may have been unsettled by the saga happening so late on in the window, and his failed move has seen the Potters board and sporting director Jon Walters draw criticism from supporters for how the situation panned out.

Stoke City surprise admitted over Wouter Burger's failed Denmark move

Burger has been an important figure in Stoke's midfield since his arrival from Basel for a reported fee of £4.3m in August 2023, so when Danish outlet Tipsbladet reported on Monday evening that the Potters and Midtjylland had agreed on a transfer, and he had passed his medical in England and agreed personal terms with the Superliga side, it came as a real shock so late in the window.

Despite the deal looking advanced and all but done, Stoke's hierarchy then apparently stopped negotiations because they were unable to find a replacement for him in Robins' side so late on, and so the former Dutch youth international has remained at the bet365 Stadium for the rest of the campaign.

FLW's Potters fan pundit, Sam Harrison, is surprised at how the club handled the situation so late on in the winter window, and while he thinks the 23-year-old will most likely depart in the summer now, he is hopeful that he can continue to impress in red and white from now until the start of May.

“Wouter Burger being linked with a move away on Deadline Day was a bit of an out-of-the-blue one," Sam told FLW.

“You would feel that, if the rumours are true that he had passed a medical and then Stoke pulled out of the deal because they couldn't find a replacement, he is more than likely going to leave in the summer if a move away comes up again.

“Hopefully he is able to still feel like part of the club, and feel like he has got a place, because at the end of the day he is a key player, and with that it does sound like they simply couldn’t find a replacement.

“Deadline Day was maybe a little bit messy for the club. From the outside looking in, that is what it looked like.

“In terms of the board and Jon Walters, it's tough to say about Walters because of the previous transfer windows that Stoke have had.

“You look at the windows that we have had while being in the Championship, even the first one, the money we have spent has very rarely been worthwhile.

“Burger is a key player. We’ve got midfielders that are only just coming back from injury, who may not be 100% fit and in contention straight away.

“He is one who actually is now growing. In the first half of the season he didn’t produce many standout performances, and he wasn’t able to show as much as he would have liked.

“Last season we saw how he is a fantastic player. Him, Million Manhoef and Bae Jun-ho were our three key players.

“This season he hasn’t been able to show it as much, but recently he has been a consistently standout performer under Mark Robins.

“It’s a bit of a strange one, that it came out of nowhere, and you do feel that January has been a really weak transfer window.”

Wouter Burger drama is a bad sign for Stoke City

Stoke are well within their right to sell a player if they want to, and said player is open to an exit, but to go through with a deal right until the last moment will not have sat well with Burger or Potters supporters in the midst of a turbulent season both on and off the pitch.

They are currently embroiled in a relegation battle at the wrong end of the Championship table, so to try and sell the Dutchman, who has great potential despite recent indifferent performances, seems like a bad move, and the fact they went back on the deal and wanted him to stay will only have made matters worse.

Burger has started 80% of Stoke's Championship games this season, with 31 appearances in all competitions up to now. To find a player with a similar profile and of similar potential so late in the window was always going to be unlikely, and so it turned out that way.

Boss Mark Robins and co will now have to hope that the 23-year-old, who they will need to rely on over the coming months, has not been dismayed by his failed move, because he seemingly has every right to be given what was reported to have gone on.

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