Football League World
·29 gennaio 2025
Football League World
·29 gennaio 2025
Our Potters fan pundit wants to see Jayden Danns added to Mark Robins' attacking options this week
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 urged to sign Liverpool youngster Jayden Danns before the winter window slams shut, amid their reported interest in his services, with Mark Robins still in need of more attacking options to give the Potters the best chance of Championship survival this season.
Stoke have had a quiet month on the transfer front, with just two loanees signed so far in Josh Wilson-Esbrand and Ali Al-Hamadi from Manchester City and Ipswich Town respectively.
Boss Robins is bound to want to add to his squad as the deadline edges ever closer, and attacking reinforcements are clearly needed, given that the Potters are the lowest scorers in the Championship right now, and are currently in the midst of a relegation battle in 20th place.
Al-Hamadi may have already arrived from the Tractor Boys, but there is no guarantee that he will be able to replicate the form of top-scorer Tom Cannon, who was recently recalled by Leicester City, while Nathan Lowe was himself recalled by the club from Walsall, but is only 19-years-old and may not be able to impact second-tier games as well as he did in League Two.
Fellow frontman Niall Ennis has been mooted with an exit by FLW this month, while Emre Tezgel is out-of-favour and Sam Gallagher has suffered persistent injury issues, so it is no shock to see Stoke chasing Danns' services to add to their lacking attack, and the club have now been told to get a move over the line to give Robins another exciting option up-front.
19-year-old Danns has tasted first-team football already at Liverpool, and has impressed when he has featured under both Jürgen Klopp and Arne Slot, with three goals so far in eight senior appearances across league and cup competitions.
His potential to be an asset in the Championship has seemingly alerted numerous second-tier clubs to his availability on loan, with Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle both previously linked, while Stoke have been constantly named in the race for his services alongside Derby County and Millwall, and Hull City, Preston North End, Blackburn Rovers and Oxford United have all also registered their interest.
The race is clearly on to land his services before the January window slams shut, but TEAMtalk's Fraser Fletcher has reported that Stoke are in a strong position in negotiations, having been in contact with the Reds over a number of weeks, and Danns is also open to a move to the Potteries.
With a potential loan switch on the horizon before Monday's deadline, our Potters fan pundit, Daniel Buxton, has urged Stoke to get a deal over the line for Danns, and believes a signing like the Liverpool youngster should be made a priority over a possible defensive or midfield addition.
“To be fair, if anything is going to cost us this season, it is going to be a lack of firepower," Daniel told FLW.
“We’ve got four clean sheets in our last seven games, so, where the defence isn’t amazing, it is a little bit more settled at the minute, and I think Mark Robins has made them a lot more solid than Pelach did.
“We can move forward with that. There are improvements that can be made in defence, but it’s at the other end of the pitch where we are the lowest scorers in the Championship.
“Sam Gallagher makes a massive difference when he does play, but he is permanently injured.
“He got injured in a pre-season friendly, came back and played a couple of games then picked up another injury, then came back, made a few substitute appearances, made his first start and he was off injured again and hasn’t played since.
“We’ve sort of got to push him to one side at this point. Niall Ennis looks likely to leave, Lewis Koumas is the only right-wing option right now because Million Manhoef is out injured until Easter time.
“That leaves us with Emre Tezgel and Nathan Lowe, two 19-year-olds, and Ali Al-Hamadi, who has obviously just come into the team from Ipswich and is yet to play.
“Jayden Danns would offer us something different. He is a big, physical striker who has got a bit of presence about him.
"He’s a great finisher, has quick feet, and would be a great addition and I would be more than happy to see him pull on a Stoke shirt.
“It’d actually be quite exciting to see him pull on a Stoke shirt. Like I said, he is different to what we have already got, and also, we need somebody with a bit of presence to get the best out of Lowe.
“That’s what Walsall did with Jamille Matt, and that’s how they got him playing so well.
“Hopefully we bring him in alongside Al-Hamadi, because we have got options then. At the minute, we haven’t got many.
“We need more firepower, more threat in front of goal, and we need to replace what we have lost with Tom Cannon leaving.”
The Potters are in real trouble of being embroiled in a relegation battle until the end of the season in May, and while Robins has somewhat steadied the ship in terms of defensive frailties since his arrival, there is still clearly a lot of work to be done to get his side scoring more goals.
As a team so far this term, Stoke have netted just 26 goals in 29 Championship games, which is the lowest of any side in the second-tier, and nine of those strikes came from Foxes loanee Cannon, who is now plying his trade at Sheffield United.
Ali Al-Hamadi boasts a solid record in the Championship from his time with Ipswich Town last season, albeit it was a small sample size to gauge his competence at the level, as he bagged four goals in 281 minutes of league football.
Stoke had already moved to exercise their own recall option with Nathan Lowe prior to Cannon leaving, after he had really impressed in League Two on loan at Walsall, and he will be behind the Tractor Boys' loanee in terms of Robins' striker depth, with Sam Gallagher constantly picking up injuries, and both Emre Tezgel and Niall Ennis likely seeking a late route out of the club this week.
The Potters could, therefore, be on to a winner with the potential acquisition of Danns, as he has displayed his talents on the senior stage with Liverpool and could easily transfer that form over to Championship football, and he already has a good relationship with their current Reds loanee Lewis Koumas, who looks to be enjoying his spell at the bet365 Stadium.
It remains to be seen if a deal will be done over the coming days, but if the 19-year-old does become a Stoke player for the remainder of the season, it would surely provide a huge boost to their chances of staying in the second-tier for another year, which is the main focus for all connected with the club right now.