£10m Stoke City transfer worry played down for now | OneFootball

FLW's Stoke fan pundit shares their thoughts on the club's impending lucrative addition of Swansea midfielder Ethan Galbraith

Stoke City have been incredibly active in the transfer window so far this summer, and the Potters have completed their most lucrative deal in nearly a decade.

A decade of bottom-half finishes has filled Stoke with a fire this summer, with the North Staffordshire outfit determined to break into the top half of the Championship next season, and the newly-formed top eight.

Joshua Griffiths signed from West Bromwich Albion for around £600k last week to begin their summer business, joining as a backup option to Viktor Johansson, and was shortly followed through the door by former Sheffield United loanee Djibril Soumare, with the midfielder joining from Portuguese side Braga for around €4 million (£3.4 million).

Svante Ingelsson has recently been confirmed as their third addition of the summer, signing from League One Sheffield Wednesday for around £1 million, as the Potters work on two more deals in the background, one of those being for Scottish centre-back Luke Graham, with a £2 million bid having been accepted and the 22-year-old picking the bet365 Stadium as his next destination despite an identical offer from Portsmouth.

However, Stoke have now completed their most lucrative addition of the summer, in a move which is set to turn heads all across the Championship.

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On Tuesday, it was reported by WalesOnline that Stoke had agreed a fee worth north of £10 million for Swansea City midfielder Ethan Galbraith, with the 25-year-old set to make the move to Staffordshire after just one season in South Wales.

Galbraith joined Swansea last summer for a mere £1.5 million from League One Leyton Orient, and has excelled playing in both midfield and right-back during his time with the Swans.

Football League World has exclusively revealed back at the start of June that West Ham United had joined Wrexham in the race for Galbraith after the former Manchester United academy star turned down a fresh deal with Swansea in April.

that the fee Stoke will pay is actually worth £5 million up front, with £2.7 million worth of add-ons included, with Swansea in need of a sale before the PSR deadline.

However, reports from WalesOnline suggest that the fee is indeed north of £10 million, with the actual fee Stoke will pay for Galbraith yet to be definitively confirmed.

Football League World's Stoke fan pundit, Ryan Beresford, has shared their thoughts on the addition of Galbraith for £10 million, and whether they think that sort of fee is justified; stressing that new spending rules (pivot from PSR to SCR) mean Stoke can now start flexing their spending power.

Ryan said: "£10 million is quite a hefty sum, but with the new rules, it's looking like we can now start to spend a lot more.

"Is he worth £10 million? Swansea fans seem to think he is, but we'll soon find out within the first couple of games of the season if he can really do a job for us and push us up for that extra play-off spot."

Mark Robins prepares his new-look Stoke City midfield with the statement addition of Ethan Galbraith from Swansea City

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With Steven Nzonzi and Lewis Baker having left the club this summer following the end of their contracts, it was made abundantly clear that midfield was in need of serious improvement for Stoke this summer.

Tomas Rigo has shown glimpses of his ability, but only glimpses, following his move from Banik Ostrava last summer, whilst Tatsuki Seko has struggled to make an impact whenever in the side, and Ben Pearson is continuously struggling with injury and disciplinary issues.

With both Soumare and Ingelsson having signed on the dotted line and Galbraith set to follow, it's a massive statement of intent by Robins, who has acted swiftly to fix Stoke's midfield woes, with the Northern Irishman's impending addition the pick of the bunch.

Whether the fee is worth over £10 million or less than that, it could prove to be a huge coup for Stoke in the long run regardless, if he is to reach his undoubted potential.

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