Stoke City ‘informed’ of renewed interest in crown jewel after January transfer bid rejected
Stoke City haven’t had too many transfer successes but this man has been an unqualified coup – and it’s no surprise he’s attracted the attention of other suitors
Viktor Johansson’s outstanding performances for Stoke City this season have caught the eye of clubs in the Premier League and Italy.
That’s according to Swedish outlet Sportbladet who claim the goalkeeper is ‘being chased’ by Bournemouth and Como.
Indeed the Serie A side are claimed to have been keen on the 26-year-old in the January transfer window.
Johansson, who is currently away on international duty with Sweden and will face Luxembourg and Northern Ireland, has been an ever-present for the Potters so far this term, with 38 starts and 11 clean sheets.
Against a backdrop of misses in the transfer market in recent years the former Rotherham goalkeeper has been a big hit and has recently claimed the Stoke captaincy.
The story claims Stoke have been ‘informed’ of both clubs’ interest but prefer not to sell their star player. Their bargaining position would no doubt be weakened if they were to suffer relegation.
Mark Robins’ men are one point above the bottom three and in danger of being caught by Derby County.
Johansson arrived at the bet365 Stadium last summer and signed a three year contract. He had previously spent four seasons at Rotherham, whom he joined after spending time in the youth set-ups at Aston Villa and Leicester City.
On-loan Blues striker Ali Al-Hamadi has been ruled out of Iraq’s World Cup qualifiers against Kuwait and Palestine having suffered a knock during Stoke’s 1-0 defeat at Millwall on Saturday.
Al-Hamadi is set to return to the Potters having initially been expected to be OK for the World Cup fixtures.
The 23-year-old, who has been capped by Iraq 14 times, scoring three goals, joined Stoke on loan in January.
Exact Derby County, Stoke and Cardiff points tallies predicted in Championship relegation battle
Latest Derby County news as the Rams put themselves back in the survival picture after a win at Plymouth Argyle coupled with Stoke City’s defeat to Millwall on Saturday
Derby County are bang in the race for survival after a superb run of three wins from their past three games.
After a rocky start to life under John Eustace, Paul Warne’s replacement after he was sacked last month, the Rams are now just a point from safety.
Saturday’s 3-2 win at Plymouth Argyle means Derby are now just one point away from safety and they have a vastly superior goal difference to Cardiff City in 21st place.
