Stoke City are set to sell their defender Kevin Wimmer after just one season at the Bet 365 stadium. The Potters paid £18m for the defender and he hasn’t been able to justify even half of that price tag. He made 23 appearances in all competitions and has been out of the first eleven for quite a while now.
It was a blunder of a move from Stoke to bring in the Austrian defender. Paul Lambert had him go through a special training regime as he thought he was not conditioned and ready enough to play first-team football. Poor choice of players in the last few transfer windows is certainly one of the reasons why Stoke have been relegated from the English top flight.
According to reports, Bundesliga outfit Hannover 96 are interested in his signature but the Potters will be lucky if they manage to recover even half of their cost that they paid to Tottenham Hotspur last year. A lot was expected from the defender but he has failed to impress in his time at Bet 365 stadium and Hannover can give him a way out of English second division.
With him set to leave, we look at three possible replacements Stoke can go for.
Robert Huth:
Stoke can get their former German defender back to help them move up to the Premier League. He played an important role in Leicester City’s season when they did the unthinkable but this season hasn’t had much game time. He is set to be out of contract in the summer and Stoke can get an experienced defender like him for free.
Jake Cooper:
The Millwall FC defender played an important role in the Lions’ push for the playoff spot. Millwall, who were promoted from the League one last season only, were one of the surprise packages of this year’s Championship as they fell just three points short of the playoffs spot. Cooper showed immense composure this season in the centre back position as he made 42 appearances in all competitions and popped in with 4 crucial goals as well.
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Kurt Zouma:
Zouma was a regular feature at the back this season for the Potters but is set to return to Chelsea after his loan spell ended. Zouma has been one of the better players at the Bet 365 stadium and he can certainly be a big boost for them if they can sign him on a permanent basis as in the Championship he will certainly be more dominant.
