Stoke City must still regret £12.5m transfer agreement | OneFootball

Arriving from Wolves in the summer of 2018, Benik Afobe's move to Stoke City did not work out as imagined.

Stoke City’s post-relegation rebuild in the summer of 2018 was supposed to be the start of a quick return to the Premier League. But one major transfer deal from that window remains a point of frustration for the club and supporters alike.

New manager at the helm, Gary Rowett, was tasked with taking the Potters back up to the Premier League at the first time of asking, and the club backed him.

The likes of Tom Ince, Peter Etebo, Sam Clucas and James McClean all arrived for big fees throughout the window.

Rowett's main signing, however, was Benik Afobe, who joined on a six-month loan deal with an obligation to purchase him for a reported fee of £12.5 million in January 2019.

Afobe had previously spent six months out on loan with Wolves, who he helped guide to the Premier League with six goals across 16 Championship appearances in the second half of the season.

After being purchased for a reported £10 million by Wolves, Afobe left the club for Stoke just days later.

High expectations and early promise

Before his £10 million move to Premier League Bournemouth in 2016, Afobe netted 22 goals across two Championship seasons for Wolves. However, after never fully proving himself in the top flight, a 2018 loan move back to Wolves seemed like a match made in heaven.

With Wolves not planning to keep Afobe around in the Premier League, a quick sale to Stoke took place, and Rowett was adamant that Afobe would be one of the central figures in firing Stoke back to the top flight at the first time of asking.

"If there's one signing you want to make to get you out of the Championship, Benik is that kind of player," Rowett told club media. "He's an excellent character and, at 25, he has bags of potential but has already shown what he's all about by scoring a lot of goals."

"He fits the profile of how I want to play in terms of pace, athleticism, flexibility, and he certainly has an eye for goal."

Afobe netted from the spot in an opening day loss against Leeds United, and found the back of the net again a week later in a 1-1 draw against Brentford.

However, with Stoke looking far from the side imagined, the goals began to dry up.

Poor return starts loan carousel for Afobe

He scored nine times for the Potters in his debut campaign. However, off-field struggles for both Afobe and the rest of the side impacted the entire season.

And the coming years didn't get any better for the striker, and for all connected with the club, the transfer turned out to be an all-around failure.

After an under-par performance on the opening day of the 2019/20 season, then-manager Nathan Jones allowed Afobe to join Bristol City on loan following the arrival of Scott Hogan.

However, the striker suffered an ACL injury in training after netting three times in his opening six matches, ending his season early.

He seemed ready to be given a second chance at Stoke under Michael O'Neil in the following campaign, before making a loan move to Turkish Süper-Lig side Trabzonspor, before joining back up with Rowett at Millwall in 2021.

Afobe finally regained some goalscoring form that term, netting 13 times for the Lions.

However, Afobe’s time at Stoke never lived up to expectations. Despite being the club’s top scorer in his only full season, his impact was short-lived. Injuries played a part, but Stoke’s decision to commit so early to a sizeable transfer fee remains difficult to defend.

Given how little return they received on their £12.5 million investment, Stoke fans are likely still left wondering what might have been had the club been more cautious in the market.

For a club looking to rebuild after relegation, Afobe’s signing proved to be an expensive misjudgment that offered little in the long run.