Stoke City‘s ten-year stay in the Premier League is about to come to an end as they will be playing their final match in the English top tier next weekend. One expected much better from the Potters and they were expected to finish somewhere around midtable when the season started.
On the back of such results, Stoke can lose out on some of their key players as they would in all probability like to keep on playing for a side who is in the top division. One of their key men over the years, Jack Butland is being linked with a move to newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers. The English custodian has played 35 games in all competitions for the Potters but has managed just 6 clean sheets in the entire campaign. However, Butland is not to be blamed for most of those goals as Stoke City’s defence has been shoddy, to say the least.
According to reports, the English goalkeeper is being priced at £35m and for Wolves to sign him, they will have to break their all-time transfer record. However, Wolves’ owners have been willing to splash the cash but it will be interesting to see whether they will splurge so much on a goalkeeper in the summer.
Butland is far from happy with the current situation at the Bet365 stadium and blamed the club’s transfer policy in the last few transfer windows. He was quoted as saying,”There’s been transfers that aren’t even part of the squad for all kinds of reasons, whether it be discipline, whether it be lack of performance. Too many of the recent investments, and over the years, are completely unused and that’s unacceptable. So before anyone is signed and any changes happen that’s got to be looked at because it’s been farcical really.”
Butland is right to blame the club’s policy as there have been players like Giannelli Imbula, Saido Berahino, Kevin Wimmer, Ibrahim Afellay and Bojan Krkic who have hardly played this season but were brought in for good amount of money.
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Wolves have shown that they have high ambitions and they will be willing to make reinforcements to their current squad to have a good outing in the English top flight next season. They have an experienced goalkeeper in John Ruddy who has kept 24 clean sheets this season. However, the English international, Jack Butland will certainly be an improvement over him but we will have to wait and watch to see whether Wolves will meet the asking price from Stoke City.
