Stoke City star set for Bundesliga transfer exit - Potters to bank multi-million-pound cash windfall | OneFootball

Stoke City have accepted a bid for one of their key assets.

Stoke City have accepted a multi-million-pound bid from German Bundesliga side Hoffenheim for star midfielder Wouter Burger.

The Potters finished 18th in the Championship last term under Mark Robins, after dismissing Steven Schumacher in September.

Stoke haven’t ranked higher than 14th since their relegation to the second-tier in 2018, and will be aiming to achieve much more next season.

Stoke City accept Hoffenheim bid for Wouter Burger

Any future ambitions will have to be realised without Burger however, with the 24-year-old seemingly approaching a bet365 Stadium exit.

Revealed by Telegraph journalist John Percy via his X account on Sunday, Stoke have accepted a bid of around €4-5m/£3.4-4.3m from German Bundesliga side Hoffenheim for the midfielder.

The Dutchman is set to fly out to Germany in order to complete his medical later today, two years after signing for the Potters.

Burger joined Stoke from Basel in 2023 and has made 86 appearances for the club, scoring five goals in that time, establishing himself as one of the club's best and most important players.

In what was a rather harrowing 2024/25 campaign for Robins’ side, but Burger provided a bright spark throughout, and was consistently one of Stoke’s top operators.

The 24-year-old made such an impact that he was handed the captaincy in certain games during his time at the bet365 Stadium, with his ability to break up play in the middle of the park a key asset Stoke will be losing.

Stoke City need to reinvest Wouter Burger money wisely

The Potters brought Burger to England two years ago for a reported £4.3 million, which wouldn’t see the club make much, if any, profit on the midfielder.

This will be surprising for a large portion of Stoke’s fanbase, who would’ve expected a much larger fee for Burger’s services, especially given the fact he's still contracted with the club until the summer of 2027.

However, debating upon that matter will do little good for Robins and Co. now, who will now need to turn their sights to replacing the Dutchman.

The reported fee of €4-5m may feel slightly deflating, but it is still a healthy portion of money to reinvest back into the squad over the next few weeks.

Stoke have suffered vastly since returning to the Championship and are long overdue a push up the table, especially when considering the finances and potential they possess.

Selling players for millions of pounds and bringing in multiple new recruits with that money is a sustainable way of building for the future and is presumably the avenue the Potters are heading down with the Burger sale.

Percy reported that Stoke are working on two/three new signings, which may provide the club’s supporters some solace.

If they reinvest the money from Burger’s exit wisely, it could prove to be a wise move in the long term, although it may seem quite confusing for fans at this moment in time.