Free agent Stoke City Premier League regular joins Championship play-off hopefuls on trial
Erik Pieters has been looking for a new club since leaving West Bromwich Albion at the end of last season
Former Stoke City stalwart Erik Pieters is training with Middlesbrough as MIchael Carrick navigates an injury crisis.
Middlesbrough are ninth in the Championship and only five points behind the top six with 10 games to play but defenders have been falling down with each passing week. Dael Fry was the only fit centre-half going into a clash with Swansea on Saturday – and he then limped off with a calf problem, leaving Carrick to play Jonny Hoswon and Neto Borges in the middle of the back line.
Luke Ayling, Rav van den Berg, George Edmundson and Darragh Lenihan are already in the treatment room and Pieters has joined in training over the last week as his fitness is assessed.
Pieters, now aged 36, played 22 times for West Brom last season as they made the play-offs before being released. He signed a short-term deal with Luton Town in December, but was let go by Matt Bloomfield at the end of January without having made an appearance. Bloomfield wanted to use a slot in his squad to address a different position.
There was a story on these pages this week about players Stoke City might have to think about selling if they are to spend any money this summer. There is a lot of work to be done and Financial Fair Play restrictions won’t allow it all to be funded by chairman John Coates.
But it would be very hard to consider selling the better players when the are the ones that Stoke would ideally build their team around going forward, rather than have to replace at the same time as building everywhere else.
Still, that’s the way of the world for a club without parachute payments in a division in the shadow of the Premier League, no matter if your billionaire owner could and would like to match anyone pound for pound.
Championship clubs vote on FFP rules for next season and what it means for Stoke City budget
Stoke City and rivals have been in talks over several months about potential changes to profit and sustainability rules
Championship clubs have voted to tweak rather than overhaul their profit and sustainability rules for next season.
EFL rivals have been running working groups on how best to go forward with financial fair play amid concerns over disparities between the Premier League and the rest as well as those in the Championship with and without parachute payments, such as Stoke City.
