ONE in, ONE OUT
Butland’s seven-year spell with club comes to end, as Gunn joins from Saints
STOKE City beat the deadline day clock to let Jack Butland head back to the Premier League - and bring in Angus Gunn as his replacement.
Butland’s declining status at Stoke had been no secret, particularly as he entered the final year of his contract, and he was keen for a fresh start to kick start his career.
A leg injury to Wayne Hennessey while on international duty with Wales on Wednesday night finally opened the door for a move and Crystal Palace made contact with Stoke on Thursday night.
Butland, aged 27, made the trip to South London to finalise the switch yesterday afternoon – taking more than a couple of hours after the 5pm deadline to be confirmed – while 24-year-old Gunn, who has slipped to third choice at Southampton, will head north on loan.
Gunn worked with Stoke keeper coach David Rouse at Manchester City and was signed for £10million at Southampton by Mark Hughes two years ago. He has not been registered in time to feature against Luton Town today.
It is ironic that Butland will join up with Roy Hodgson, the manager who was in charge on the night that bookmarks his career.
Butland was fighting to be England number one when he suffered a complicated ankle fracture on international duty in Berlin back in the spring of 2016.
His comeback was derailed and by the time he returned a year later, Stoke were struggling – and duly relegated, with Hughes sacked.
He had hoped that a transfer to the Premier League to help his England ambitions would happen in 2019 when Stoke failed to win promotion but he ultimately stayed put and struggled through a tough season, losing his place first to Adam Federici and now to Adam Davies.
The transfer fee is undisclosed, with reported initial figures between £500,000 and £1m.
Meanwhile, Joe Allen is making significant strides in his return to fitness – even if there is still no date on when he will be back in contention to play.
In fact, the 30-year-old midfielder is still training with the medical department rather than his teammates as he keeps going down the long road after rupturing an Achilles tendon back in March.
But O’neill, who has been asked to deliver almost weekly updates on Allen was the most positive he has been after seeing real progress over the last couple of weeks.
“Joe’s good,” said the manager. “He’s stepped up his rehabilitation.
“It’s still very difficult. I can’t turn around to you and say he’ll be back on a certain specific date.
“He’s not back training with the team yet, he’s still in the hands of the medical team and the rehab team.
“With that type of injury it’s a long process.
“But certainly in the last two or three weeks I’ve noticed a step up in rehab and long may that continue.
“We’re looking forward to when we think he can reintegrate into training and then we step it up from there.”