ROWETT: POTTERS WON’T SPEND BIG
Stoke boss reveals his ambitions for the January transfer window
GARY Rowett has outlined the requirements for ‘one or two’ Championship-ready potential signings he would like to bring into Stoke City next month.
Rowett has warned supporters not to expect too much transfer activity in January, but he is looking at a couple of areas where he can add something different to his squad.
That is on the back of up to six fringe players, including Bojan, Charlie Adam and Mame Diouf, who could be allowed to leave – even if no one will be forced out.
“From experience, the January window is difficult,” said Rowett.
“If you look at us at the moment, the ideal signing is someone who knows the challenges of the division because you haven’t got long to get them into the group, you can’t afford another five or six weeks to settle in.
“They also have to improve your team and have to be such good characters – and it has to be the right economics to even buy them.
“The reality is that to get all those four or five scenarios together is really tough because no one wants to sell their best players and no one wants to sell their best players cheap.
“But you’re always looking at the areas of your team that you can improve, that you can tweak and maybe bring something different to the group.
“I don’t think we’ll do a lot, is the honest answer, but what we’ll do is hope that it gives us different options.”
Rowett brought in nine players in the summer and loan deals for Benik Afobe (£12m from Wolves) and Ryan Woods (£6m from Brentford) will be made permanent in the new year.
He added: “We’re not going to go out and spend £20m on a forward player.
Stoke CITY
“That’s the reality because the club and the owners have spent a lot of money and I think the players are improving. I think performance levels – besides last Saturday – are improving and I think we’ve got a lot more improvement to be made with some individuals.
“We will get better as a team anyway and it’s just seeing if we can accelerate that with one or two players.
“Last year we were second at Derby, I brought two players in and it took them probably six weeks to settle in and it actually affected the group a little bit.
“You’ll hear a lot of teams saying they’re not going to do anything and that’s actually the best thing… but I’m not saying that. I’m saying we won’t do loads.”
There are half-a-dozen senior outfield players still at Stoke – Charlie Adam, Moritz Bauer, Bojan, Peter Crouch, Diouf and Fletcher – who have made fewer than seven starts and Rowett has praised their professionalism.
But he says he would understand if any were craving more regular football.
“They’ve been fantastic,” he said. “As a whole group the players have been fantastic.
“People like Darren Fletcher who have played at the highest level but not played regularly has been fantastic around the group. Crouchy, who would probably feel he would have scored as many as any of our forwards at the moment, has been brilliant. I could say the same about the likes of Bojan and Charlie Adam.
“Any manager will tell you that you need the players who are not playing every week to also stay professional and focused because otherwise it makes it very, very difficult to get through a week’s training.
“There will be some of those players who maybe want to play more regular football and because they’ve been so good you want to try to help them.”