Stoke City must eye Sheffield United, West Brom transfer hijack if Sorba Thomas replaces Antoine Semenyo | OneFootball

Sorba Thomas could be Premier League-bound, and Stoke must act quickly to replace him with a Brighton loanee excelling in League One

The Antoine Semenyo saga at Bournemouth has caused a ripple effect for a lot of clubs in the Championship.

It seems only a matter of time before Semenyo makes a move to a traditional 'big six' club, with it being widely reported that Manchester City have agreed to pay the £65 million release clause in the exciting forward's contract.

Bristol City are patiently waiting for an £11 million payout due to the profit sell-on clause inserted into the deal, which sent him to the Vitality Stadium in 2023.

Still, other Championship clubs are waiting to see what the deal means for their current players, and they arguably won't like the result as much as the Robins.

Indeed, Stoke City's Sorba Thomas, alongside Leicester City's Abdul Fatawu, have been shortlisted by Bournemouth as potential replacements for the Ghanaian, following their impressive performances in the second tier so far this season, according to a report from the Daily Mail.

Stoke's Thomas is enjoying the best season of his career so far this term, scoring nine and assisting seven to help Mark Robins' side battle for a play-off place, which seemed so unlikely before a ball was kicked in August. If he were to be poached by the Premier League outfit, it could be seen as an outright disaster.

However, if the Welsh international does depart, the Potters shouldn't sit licking their wounds, and instead should rival interest from their divisional rivals for a wideman excelling on loan at Bolton Wanderers.

Stoke City should look at Amario Cozier-Duberry if Sorba Thomas leaves for Bournemouth

Amario Cozier-Duberry has wasted no time in proving that he is a Championship-standard winger at present this season with Bolton, following a dud campaign at Blackburn Rovers last year.

The Brighton and Hove Albion loanee was quite simply unstoppable through the opening months of the League One campaign, scoring six and assisting six through the opening 15 games.

On that 15th game, he scored two and set up two in a 4-0 rout of Port Vale, and that prompted rumours suggesting that the Premier League side would be open to relocating the 20-year-old back to the Championship, with Sheffield United and West Bromwich Albion interested.

Since then, the dynamic winger's goalscoring and assisting output have declined slightly. He hasn't scored since that win against League One's basement side in mid-November, and he's assisted just twice more in the last nine games. But that doesn't mean that he's been completely ineffective.

Per Fotmob, Cozier-Duberry is still in the top 2% of right-wingers in the third tier when it comes to successful dribbles, chances created and touches in the opposition box. He still has plenty of influence in games, just without the numbers to properly back it up.

If Brighton are to make a recall decision, there'll no doubt be a disorderly queue being formed of Championship sides looking to secure his services. Stoke will need to do everything they can to be at the front of that queue, especially if Thomas does depart.

Amario Cozier-Duberry would be a great fit in an exciting, youthful Stoke City attack

The main criticism of Stoke over the past couple of years has been their relative youthfulness and inexperience.

This season has seen those young stars break out into competant Championship operators, though, and with the likes of 36-year-old Aaron Cresswell and 37-year-old Steven N'Zonzi coming in this summer, the balance of the team seems just right.

It's in attacking areas, however, where the young stars at Stoke thrive. Attacking full-back Junior Tchamadeu, attacking midfielder Jun-Ho Bae and winger Million Manhoef have taken that extra step under Mark Robins in his first full season in charge, and are big contributors to the side.

Additionally, Manchester City loanee Divin Mubama and Lamine Cisse have come in this season and contributed to an exciting frontline, where 26-year-old Thomas is seen somewhat as a veteran.

Losing the Welsh international would be a massive blow if Bournemouth do come-a-knocking. But with the potential fee that would likely be thrown at Thomas, Stoke would be wise not to turn it down.

And if they could replace the 26-year-old with Cozier-Duberry, who is six years younger than Thomas, the frontline would get even younger, but the exciting, free-flowing style wouldn't lessen at all.