Stoke City beat Celtic and Swansea to Premier League player | OneFootball

Stoke City have won the race to sign Crystal Palace winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi ahead of Celtic and Swansea City.

Jesurun Rak-Sakyi is set to make a decision on his next destination amid interest from Celtic, Swansea City, Coventry City, and Stoke City in the January transfer window.

The Crystal Palace winger spent the first half of the 2025/26 campaign with Turkish side Caykur Rizespor on loan, which followed a loan with Sheffield United under Chris Wilder in 2024/25.

He scored four and assisted one in 13 games for the Turkish outfit and both Coventry City and Swansea City registered interest in the Crystal Palace winger early in the window amid talk of a return to Selhurst Park.

Rak-Sakyi would be embarking on his third EFL loan away from Palace. He spent 2022/23 on loan at Charlton Athletic, scoring 15 and assisting a further nine in 49 matches.

However, Stoke City have pushed the hardest for Rak-Sakyi for some weeks now. The wingers and wide forwards at Mark Robins' disposal are why Stoke have been so active thus far in pursuing a move.

Stoke City win the race for Crystal Palace winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi

Robins has the likes of Sorba Thomas and Million Manhoef as his starting wingers currently, with Jun-ho Bae and Lamine Cisse also able to operate out wide. However, they have played a huge chunk of minutes and depth was required.

Rak-Sakyi's wages should not be an issue, with the 23-year-old last signing a five-year deal back in 2022. The loan deal to another club is only until the end of the current campaign as well.

The saga has taken twists and turns but Stoke were revealed to be Rak-Sakyi's preference by Pete O'Rourke two weeks ago. The play-off chasers have been between first and 10th for every matchday of the season so far but need an extra boost to get over the line.

The latest comes from Darren Witcoop, revealing that they have won the race on deadline day. Stoke have beaten others, such as Scottish giants Celtic, to Rak-Sakyi's signature.

In fact, the sheer volume of interest has been revealed by Sky Sports' Anthony Joseph. He claims that there is no option or obligation to buy but the winger has been attracting interest from Celtic, Monaco, Lille, Swansea City, and Millwall in the window.

Jesurun Rak-Sakyi at a career crossroads with Stoke City and Crystal Palace

It's potentially bad news for Manhoef at Stoke, with Rak-Sakyi providing serious competition for places. The truth is that depth was required, though, which is good news for Robins ahead of the final run-in.

Robins could utilise one of them down the left for Stoke, but neither are as well-suited to that role. That's because they are left-footed and keen to cut inside to do damage on the opposition.

Rak-Sakyi needs to kick on with this loan, given the rotation role he was handed by Wilder last season. Without regular starts and goal involvements, the 23-year-old will not realise his potential. This move looks like a good fit for all on paper, however.