Stoke City may have made huge transfer blunder involving Wycombe Wanderers and £4.8m man | OneFootball

Stoke City signed Milan Smit in January and loaned out Nathan Lowe to Wycombe Wanderers

Having begun the season so promisingly, Stoke City’s dreams of a top-six finish this campaign now look dead in the water after a dismal run of form.

The Potters were one of the quickest out of the blocks this year, as under the guidance of Mark Robins, Stoke were challenging both Coventry City and Middlesbrough at the top of the table in the early stages.

However, a calamitous dip in form has seen them not only cut adrift from the top two but the top six altogether, with yet another season in the bottom half beckoning, barring a strong end to the season.

There are numerous reasons their tail off could be attributed to, though their injury woes are probably the main factor, with key players such as Viktor Johansson, Lewis Baker, Junior Tchamadeu and Divin Mubama all spending time out of action throughout the campaign.

Mubama’s injury in particular led the Potters to decide in January over their forward options, with the transfer gamble having yet to pay off the way they had hoped.

Stoke City signed Dutch forward Milan Smit and loaned Nathan Lowe to Wycombe Wanderers in January - was it the wrong move?

The January window is a pivotal moment in almost every side's season, presenting the final opportunity to prepare your side for the remainder of the campaign, whether that’s playing for survival or pushing for promotion.

At that stage, for Stoke, it was the latter, and with each of Mubama, Sam Gallagher, Robert Bozenik, Emre Tezgel, and Nathan Lowe injured, the Potters were desperate for fresh blood up top.

Lowe had returned to Staffordshire from his loan with Stockport County after picking up an injury, though despite him being due to return to action at the end of the month, Stoke decided to loan him back out once again, this time to Wycombe Wanderers.

Instead of keeping Lowe around, Stoke opted to bring in Dutch forward Milan Smit from Go Ahead Eagles on loan with an obligation to buy for £4.8 million in the summer.

Smit had led the line for the Dutch side for the past two seasons, winning the KNVB Cup with Go Ahead Eagles before his first move abroad with Stoke.

However, since his switch, Smit has yet to make the desired impact, whilst Lowe has hit the ground running upon his move to Adams Park, creating the question over whether Robins made the correct call regarding the pair in January.

Mark Robins may have early transfer regret involving Milan Smit and Nathan Lowe

Following Smit’s arrival, he was thrown straight up top to provide a focal point in attack and to score the goals for Stoke.

However, the 23-year-old is yet to directly contribute to a goal in any of his seven league appearances thus far, and has recently dropped out of the starting side in place of Lamine Cisse.

With Mubama and Gallagher set to return to action soon, Smit’s chance of making an impact in the side is beginning to fade, as Stoke fans will be looking on at Lowe's exploits at Wycombe and wonder why he wasn’t given the chance instead.

Lowe has scored two and assisted one in four league games so far for the Chairboys, with the England youth international beginning to find the form that saw his profile increase massively during his time on loan with Walsall last season.

Stoke’s biggest problem this season has been their proficiency in the final third, with Welsh winger Sorba Thomas taking the mantle as the club's talisman with the most goals and most assists at the club by a long way.

Mubama, Gallagher, and Bozenik have just seven league goals combined this campaign, with three of those coming in one game against Bristol City in Mubama’s case; with these stats, it’s hardly surprising that Smit has struggled so far.

Smit is set to sign permanently with the Potters this summer for £4.8 million, whilst Lowe is due to return from his loan, with the pair likely going toe-to-toe for a place in the starting lineup next season.