Free agents Stoke City could sign outside transfer window
Alex Neil had a busy summer of signings at Stoke City and can still bring in unregistered players after deadline day
The final bell of the summer transfer deadline was a chance for Stoke City to catch a breath after a frenetic couple of months.
But when manager Alex Neil and technical director Ricky Martin took a step back to take a look at the squad list on their whiteboard, there was still a couple of areas where they had just run out of time to get the cover and competition that they would have wanted in an ideal world.
They were still chasing a left-sided centre-back in the final few days and hours, for instance, although the important part of Stoke post-three painful years of Financial Fair Play management is to know when to walk away.
And clubs can still sign free agents without needing to wait for the January window. That’s why there was a spate of players leaving clubs by mutual consent before the deadline, like Luke Freeman at Luton Town or Jack Simpson at Cardiff, for example, who can now set about finding new homes.
But the free agent market is not always as straightforward as it appears. Complications can vary from agents – including players being represented by multiple people who are not always on the same page, or even not know who is really in charge – to wage demands or fitness levels. Most of this catalogue has missed pre-season, let alone got recent decent match practice.
Midfielder Josh Onomah impressed during training at Clayton Wood through pre-season yet wasn’t able to get a deal over the line.
A move for a fourth centre-back to add to Ben Wilmot, Luke McNally and Michael Rose appears less likely than it was a week ago when it should have been going the other way. Wouter Burger, who joined Stoke from Basel, could always drop into the back four in an emergency situation.
Still, the option is there, clubs have holes they want to fill, and players are still appearing at new clubs.
Jesse Lingard is training with West Ham after leaving Nottingham Forest, injury-plagued Phil Jones has been back at Manchester United – although he has been there to observe academy coaching sessions as he contemplates the next step of his career.
And Liam Moore, the former Stoke loan defender, has explained the difficulties on the other side of the fence as a player who wants to play but comes with a catch.
“It’s been a slow burner,” the centre-half, released by Reading, told the Ballers Mindset Podcast.
“I’m not going to sit here and say the phone has been off the hook and I’m just being picky. I missed a lot of football, which will be a red mark against my name for a lot of teams. I feel like recruitment could be a little bit better in this country because some teams wouldn’t even know that I was fit. I would have been prepared, at the start of the season, to go into any good-level club and prove I am fit.
“I had a couple of clubs. I met one club and went in to meet the manager, went to the training ground and met the staff and thought it was a foregone conclusion- it didn’t happen, and they went with somebody else. I had an offer from a League One team three or four weeks ago and I was game. I’m prepared to drop down, that is not an issue. When it came to negotiations and the contract it was as straightforward as you like from my point of view- I’ve got no number it has to be. Just put an offer on the table that respects me in your club. If your club, in general terms, pays £100 per week on average, put me around £100 a week.
“You’ve got to consider that I’ve had my injuries but don’t take the mickey and lowball me. This club came in and it was a proper kick in the teeth. I wanted to play- I was desperate to play. But you’ve got to respect yourself.”
So here is a condensed list of available free agents, with at least a couple of interesting names such as Peter Etebo, once of this parish and now without a home at the age of 27. Ciaran Clark, aged 33, remains unsigned, as does former Neil favourite Darnell Fisher and ex-Wigan and Blackburn full-back Ryan Nyambe. Whispers on social media suggest Rotherham interest in Sam Clucas.
Then again, Neil and Martin could also try for David de Gea, late of Man Utd, and Eden Hazard, who has left Real Madrid, to see if they can be tempted with three-game weeks in the Championship.
