Xherdan Shaqiri features: 3 August transfers Stoke City will want to emulate before Deadline Day | OneFootball

The Potters would love to bring in three players this month that replicate these past August incomings

Stoke City are looking to improve on their recent times in the Championship this season, and should draw inspiration from some past August transfers as they look to bolster their squad in the final month of the summer window.

Potters boss Steven Schumacher has brought in six new faces to the club so far, with Viktor Johansson, Ben Gibson, Eric Bocat, Sam Gallagher and Bosun Lawal joining the club on permanent deals from Rotherham United, Norwich City, Sint-Truiden, Blackburn Rovers and Celtic, while Lewis Koumas has arrived on loan from Liverpool.

Stoke are still searching for new additions as deadline day edges ever closer, with reinforcements particularly needed at centre-forward, attacking midfield and centre-back if they are to improve and finish in the top-half of the second-tier for the first time since relegation in 2018.

With that said, Football League World have picked out three previous August arrivals that the Potters will want to emulate before the window closes on August 30.

Xherdan Shaqiri

Xherdan Shaqiri joined Stoke from Inter Milan in August 2015 for a club-record £12.5m, and soon set about winning the hearts of the Potters faithful for his standout performances in the Premier League in red and white.

The Swiss international netted numerous memorable strikes in his time in the Potteries, with 15 goals and assists each in 92 games for the club before he left for Liverpool in 2018 after he could not help Stoke avoid relegation to the Championship.

He built a reputation for his speed, trickery and brilliant ball-striking while at the bet365 Stadium, and the current squad may be well-stacked with right-wingers with the likes of Million Manhoef and Andre Vidigal, but he was also used as an attacking midfielder in his time at the club, and Schumacher would love to bring in a player relative to his quality in the second-tier in that position this month to give his side some added impetus and flair going forward.

Ricardo Fuller

Ricardo Fuller is a modern-day Stoke City legend, and it would be ideal if Schumacher could bring in a player this month that gives as much back as the Jamaican international did in his six years at the club.

He joined Stoke from Southampton in August 2006 with the club in the second-tier, and netted double figures in the league in consecutive seasons to fire the club to promotion to the Premier League in 2008, then helped keep the Potters in the top-flight with 18 league goals in his next three seasons.

Fuller struck up a special relationship with Stoke supporters during his time at the club due to his dazzling skills and ability to conjure a magic moment out of nothing - a player like him does not come around often, but somebody of his talents in front of goal would be the perfect addition to the current squad this month to help improve the club's poor scoring record in recent seasons.

Ryan Shawcross

While the word 'legend' should not be banded around too often in regard to footballers, Ryan Shawcross, much like Fuller, is another that it undoubtedly applies to when looking at Stoke's most iconic players in recent times.

The centre-back arrived at the Britannia Stadium in August 2007 on loan from Manchester United as Stoke looked to finally achieve promotion, and his impact was so apparent that the Potters made his move a permanent one in the January window, and he helped Tony Pulis' side reach the promised land, then remained at the club for the next thirteen years as a stalwart and club captain at the heart of the team's backline.

Shawcross made 453 appearances in his 14 years at the club, and was widely regarded as an underrated Premier League centre-back after he picked up an England cap and played consistently in the top-flight for ten seasons.

Schumacher is searching for centre-back additions as he looks to bolster his defence for the new season, and if he could sign a loan player from a top side like Shawcross was all those years ago, it would be a brilliant pick-up and greatly improve his backline as Stoke seek to achieve promotion like their former-captain did back in 2008.