Stoke City should sign Shea Charles and then follow it up with these 2 deals, here's why | OneFootball

Steven Schumacher is set to take on his first summer as Potters head-coach, after joining last December from Plymouth Argyle and guiding the club to safety in the Championship following a poor run of form under ex-boss Alex Neil.

The club has already published their retained list ahead of the new campaign, with Tyrese Campbell, Ciaran Clark, Wesley, Tom Edwards, Tom Sparrow and D’Margio Wright-Phillips all departing upon the expiry of their contracts.

Stoke finished 17th in 2023/24 and are yet to finish in the top-half of the second-tier since relegation from the Premier League in 2018, so they need to improve their squad this summer while also keeping hold of their top talents like Wouter Burger and Bae Jun-ho.

Schumacher has already conducted some business since the season's end, with Swedish international goalkeeper Viktor Johansson joining from Rotherham United on May 18.

More arrivals and exits are likely in the coming months, so these are three players that we think Stoke should sign this summer.

Shea Charles

20-year-old Shea Charles has just ended his first full season at senior level on a high, winning promotion to the Premier League with Southampton as an unused substitute in the play-off final at Wembley.

He made one senior appearance for his boyhood club Manchester City in their treble-winning 2022/23 campaign, but moved to Saints last summer in search of regular first-team football for an initial fee of around £10.5m.

Russell Martin gave him 32 games in the regular Championship season, but he was limited to just 15 league starts and fell out of favour as the season went on, with only four of those starts coming since the turn of the year.

He displayed his natural ability as a defensive midfielder at times throughout the campaign, but was learning on the job and is clearly a very raw player who could do with another season in the Championship to find his feet.

Saints will undoubtedly make new signings in midfield this summer, with Flynn Downes a wanted man after his successful loan spell and Charly Alcaraz set to return from his spell at Juventus and fight for places in Martin's side.

That factor, as well as the lack of recent game-time, suggests that Martin would be open to allowing Charles to leave St Mary's on loan this summer, with the step-up to the top-flight likely to be deemed too big for him at this early stage of his career.

Stoke are set to be in the market for a holding midfielder that can also play as a number eight, with Ben Pearson possibly set to leave the club following a poor campaign and links away in the January window.

Charles would therefore be an ideal signing for Schumacher to loan in, develop and hopefully help his side push up the table.

Troy Parrott

The Potters' strike force needs to be improved this summer - they were the Championship's sixth-lowest scorers in 2023/24 and their highest-scoring centre-forwards in the league were Ryan Mmaee and Tyrese Campbell, with just three goals each.

Campbell has now left the club, so they may want to spend the majority of their summer budget on a striker, but could also explore the loan market with multiple additions primarily needed in defence.

Troy Parrott could certainly be an option for either transfer or a loan deal, after an impressive season at Excelsior in the Eredivisie where he netted 10 goals in 25 games in the regular season, but could not save the Rotterdam club from dropping back down to the second-tier despite scoring seven times in four relegation play-off games.

Parrott has long been highly-rated at parent club Tottenham Hotspur but has been unable to break into the Spurs first-team with just four senior appearances to date, and has failed to shine on loan at MK Dons, Ipswich Town and Preston North End respectively.

The Republic of Ireland international is now 22 and already at somewhat of a crossroads in his career - he is unsure of what his future holds in North London, but it seems very unlikely that he will feature in Ange Postecoglou's plans despite his good form.

There are 12 months left on his Spurs contract, but the club hold an option to extend that by another year, so a loan deal would be possible as it would still allow them to sell him for a fee next summer.

Stoke would undoubtedly face competition from other Championship clubs if they did chase his signature, so it would be a coup if Schumacher could bring him in as their main striker ahead of next season.

Continuing on the theme of loan players from the Premier League, Chelsea's Alfie Gilchrist would be a sensible option for the Potters to sign to potentially solve their centre-back and right-back issues.

Schumacher currently has 20-year-old Junior Tchamadeu as his only right-back in the squad, as well as Michael Rose, Ben Wilmot and youngsters David Okagbue and Matthew Baker as his main centre-back options going into the summer.

It is clear that additions in defence are needed, and Gilchrist has played in both positions, so could provide cover across the backline if Stoke were to bring him in from the Blues.

He played 17 times in all competitions for his boyhood club last season, but does look set to seal a loan move away from Stamford Bridge this summer, with journalist Ben Jacobs reporting that Preston, Blackburn and Leeds have all shown interest.

That means Stoke would face competition if they want to sign him, but the offer of regular first-team minutes could tempt him to the bet365 Stadium for the 2024/25 campaign.