Forget the goals, Stoke City signing can be a missing link for Steven Schumacher: View | OneFootball

Sam Gallagher joined the Potters from Blackburn Rovers at the end of July.

Highlights

Stoke City may have found the player to plug a gap that had formed last season, after they captured a key star from Blackburn Rovers in July.

Steven Schumacher brought Sam Gallagher to the bet365 Stadium at the end of last month, in a deal worth around the £1.5 million mark, according to John Percy via X.

Gallagher became Schumacher's fourth signing of the summer, with Stoke hoping to improve upon a 17th place finish in the Championship last season.

However, the 28-year-old is not renowned for his goal-scoring ability, and instead will have to provide other qualities to help his team in their push-up the table, after scoring just three goals for Blackburn in 2023/24.

Nevertheless, he was pivotal in Rovers' survival, and he combined well with former teammate Sammie Szmodics throughout the campaign too, giving the team the opportunity to stay up on the final day.

Gallagher gives Stoke a physical presence up front

Despite his lack of goals, Gallagher will offer the Potters a physical edge that they have not previously had, allowing Schumacher to potentially play to the team's strengths more than he has been able to do in the past.

At 6ft 4in, the 28-year-old adds a lot of height to this Stoke team, and he will be able to be used as a protector to any of the strikers in front of him, particularly to 18-year-old Emre Tezgel, who is still developing.

His threat in the air was perhaps his greatest asset last season, winning 87 aerial duels in the Championship, despite playing just 24 games due to an injury.

It was this dominance that drew Schumacher to Gallagher, as the former Plymouth Argyle manager hinted at before the signing was completed. Speaking to the Stoke Sentinel, the 40-year-old said: "Now we need more than one player, we need a few players, and we need players with different attributes, as I always say, to complement the team and what we’ve already got.

"I like having numerous strikers who can do different roles," he concluded.

Gallagher's link-up play will be key to Stoke's future success

Although he missed the first game of the season due to a knock picked up in a friendly, Gallagher is expected to be a key ingredient in this Stoke team.

He will need to fill the gap that was often left far too exposed just in front of the midfield last term, and allow the Potters' wingers and forward-line to combine better than they did.

Stoke scored just 49 goals in 2023/24, the sixth fewest in the division, despite putting four past Bristol City on the final day of the season.

With the exits of Tyrese Campbell and Wesley Moraes, Schumacher will be relying on new players to cause issues with their physicality in an attempt to help create chances and also put the ball in the back of the net themselves.

If Gallagher can return to the same form he was in between 2020 and 2023, then Stoke have poached a consistent and dangerous forward from a potential rival.