FLETCHER AND SMITH TO LEAVE AS BOSS O’NEILL EYES REBUILD
STEVEN Fletcher and Tommy Smith have kick-started a busy summer of transfers at Stoke City by confirming they will be leaving the club.
Striker Fletcher, aged 35, and rightback Smith, aged 30, are now at the end of their contracts and deals are not being renewed.
James Chester is also likely to leave, while the future of captain Joe Allen remains up in the air amid interest from boyhood club Swansea.
Phil Jagielka, Jacob Brown and Jordan Thompson have signed new deals in the last few days, while Michael O’neill has also been weighing up decisions about players in or on the fringes of the under-23s team.
Fletcher has made 82 appearances since joining as a free agent from Sheffield Wednesday, scoring 12 times – and been consistently high in the Championship rankings for hitting the woodwork.
He has been dogged by niggling injuries this term and hasn’t scored since the winner at Blackpool back in November – but he has no intention of hanging up his boots just yet. He has been praised for his positive influence behind the scenes, including taking younger players under his wing for extra gym work.
“Sadly my time here Stoke City has come to an end,” he wrote on social media. “I’d like to thank the gaffer and all the staff at the club for everything over the past two years. It’s an incredible club and I hope that next season you can achieve great things.
“Thank you to the boys, what a great bunch of lads and a brilliant dressing room to have been a part of! I will miss it for sure. Keep pushing next season, I know that you can achieve what you set out to!
“And lastly to my family, thank you for the endless support, wherever we go, we go as a team so let’s see where we go next, I’m not quite ready to hang them up yet.”
Nathan Jones made Smith one of his major signings when he paid Huddersfield £4m in 2019 – but Smith had to fight for a starting shirt with Tom Edwards until the arrival of O’neill a few months later.
He was not an automatic pick in a back four as time went on but chipped in with some useful assists, particularly from smart set pieces, this campaign. He made 106 appearances in all, including 33 this season, and the hunt is now on for a new home.
“Another season ticked off and my last one as a Stoke City player,” he said.
“I want to thank everyone connected to the club for the help and support I’ve received in the past three years.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time at the club and I wish everyone the very best for the future. I’ve met some very special people and I’m truly grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to play over 100 games for such a brilliant football club.”
Stoke are expected to confirm their retained list shortly. Preston became the first Championship club to make theirs public when they released 13 players yesterday, including Tom Barkhuizen, Paul Huntington and Scott Sinclair.
· MARK Bowen, assistant manager to Mark Hughes at Stoke for the best part of five years, is poised to return to Reading in an executive role. Bowen worked as technical consultant, sporting director and finally manager during a 17-month stay in Berkshire up to August 2020.
The 58-year-old has been in interim charge at AFC Wimbledon for just over a month, alongside Eddie Niedzwiecki, but was unable to prevent their relegation into League Two.
· STOKE under-23s will take on Nottingham Forest in the Premier League 2 play-off semi-finals next Sunday (3pm) at the bet365 Stadium.