Losing Nathan Collins would make this a failed transfer window for Stoke City
Bad news Stoke City fans – It’s been recently reported that Premier League clubs, specifically Arsenal and Burnley, are looking to acquire young Stoke City standout, Nathan Collins. If Stoke lose their young defender and fail to add any more players on permanent deals, this will likely go down as a failed transfer window for the club.
Up to this point, Stoke City have been active during January, seeing four players come in – Rabbi Matondo, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Jack Clarke, and Alfie Doughty. Moving away from the club is young winger Thibaud Verlinden who is off to the Dutch side Fortuna Sittard.
The only player Stoke have actually acquired permanently is Alfie Doughty, who will still remain on loan at Charlton Athletic for the remainder of the season before coming to Stoke this summer. Rabbi Matondo does have an option to buy at the end his Stoke loan, but this is not guaranteed.
While the players coming in on loan have added depth to Stoke City, we could be realistically be looking back on this window, with loan players gone, thinking we could have done more…
Below is a short, but not that unrealistic, prediction of what the January window could look like.
Out: Nathan Collins, Thibaud Verlinden
In: Alfie Doughty
In on loan/returned: Rabbi Matondo, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Jack Clarke
Of course, Stoke still have time to add another player, and if the fee for Collins is as high as reported (around 10mill), Stoke might have some room to make an additional move. Losing a player like Collins would be a blow for Stoke as he, along with Harry Souttar and Tyrese Campbell, represent the future of the club in many ways. Luckily, Stoke are fairly deep with center-backs, and while losing Collins would see a downgrade in quality it would likely see an increase in playing time for Danny Batth and possibly Liam Lindsay.
Collins Season Recap
This has been a breakout season for Nathan Collins. The young defender has made 20 starts for the Potters and has been a mainstay in the starting squad all season. In fact, only Harry Souttar, Nick Powell, and Tommy Smith have more minutes logged for Stoke this season. Even when Stoke have been stretched by injuries, Collins has forced himself into the lineup making 7 starts at right-back. Watching Collins, it’s clear why top clubs are in line for him. He has a great blend of speed, physicality, and aggressiveness.