Boss pleased with quality additions

Alex Neil has praised the collective effort of everyone behind the scenes to ensure that Stoke City have a first team squad filled with “quality”.

Since eight senior players reported back for pre-season at the end of June, the Potters’ transfer team, headed by Neil, Technical Director Ricky Martin and Head of Recruitment Jared Dublin, have worked together to bolster the ranks.

Fifteen players from across the globe have made the move to the Potteries over the last few weeks, with South Korean Under-20 international Bae Junho the latest arrival on Thursday.

As the Potters head into the final day of the market on Friday, Neil revealed how pleased he has been with the signings the Club have made, whilst also hinting that further players could arrive before the 11pm deadline.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s been a really tough and long transfer window, but it’s been enjoyable,” the 42-year-old expressed.

“We’ve been really successful in terms of our pursuit of players and landing the ones we targeted, which has been great.

“I feel that Stoke City is a really appealing club for players to come and play.

“When you take into account where we started with eight players to where we are now, it’s been a remarkable team effort to get the quality we’ve brought in.

“We’ve obviously still got a bit of time so we’ll see what that brings us.”

On the signing Junho, the manager added: “We’ve spoken at length about a mixture across the squad in terms of age, options and variety of player. 

“Junho is another one who is only young but has massive scope in terms of what he can become. He had a great World Cup with South Korea and we are really excited to see where we can take him and develop him.”

Hours after the closure of the window, City will welcome Preston North End to the bet365 Stadium in their final match before the first international break of the season.

The Potters will be hoping to record a fifth successive home victory at the start of the 2023/24 season, and the significance of a win over his former employers is not lost on Neil: ”It would be massive from a mentality and morale perspective to keep the good feeling we’ve currently got around the Club.

“Our home form has been particularly good, which is a key factor in the current feeling. 

“We understand the importance of the game heading into the break. 

“The break will allow us to do a bit of work before we get stuck into what looks like a really tough month.”