Alex Neil knows key signing must solve three-year problem at Stoke City

It is a summer of huge change at Stoke City as Alex Neil prepares for his first full season as manager.

Neil arrived last August knowing that he would be tasked with a long-term project of turning around a club which has now finished in the bottom half of the Championship for five consecutive seasons. He will be backed by the Coates family as much as possible within Financial Fair Play constraints, and the squad is lighter than it has been for at least 16 years to give him the scope to put his own stamp on the changing room.

StokeonTrentLive has been asking Stoke supporters for their views on the current state of the club, its leadership, ambitions and what needs to happen in the transfer market. Responses have been flooding in, putting Stoke right near the top in a league table of surveys covering dozens of clubs across the country.

One of the questions this time around asks which of the seven loan players who spent at least the second half of last season at the bet365 Stadium would you most like back.

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Unfortunately that won’t be full-back Dujon Sterling, who looked a strong Championship player as he became match fit but has since joined Rangers as a free agent upon leaving Chelsea.

There is a lot of clamour for Ben Pearson, who finally gave Stoke a bona fide defensive midfield player which has been so sorely missing in previous seasons.

Ki-Jana Hoever and Will Smallbone have fans too, while Axel Tuanzebe has obvious potential if he only he can be available for selection. He will be a free agent too as he leaves Manchester United this summer. Bersant Celina couldn’t make the impact he had hoped after joining from Dijon.

That leaves Matija Sarkic, who had barely played for a year when he joined Stoke from Wolves in January. An impressive loan spell at Birmingham the season previously had been cut short by a shoulder injury and then he was used only as back-up back at Molineux.

The 25-year-old Montenegro international, from Grimsby, was coming into his own and showing a good command of his penalty area when he was laid low by a quad injury that ruled him out for two months. He had talks with Neil about his future before the final game of the season and then returned to the starting XI.

He is expected to be at the top of the shopping list as Stoke go into the market for a keeper – and the importance of getting this decision right is clear.

Stoke have flipped and flopped between goalkeepers since the summer of 2019 when Jack Butland was expected to head to the Premier League but stayed, leaving new signing Adam Davies in the shadows. Angus Gunn, Joe Bursik, Jack Bonham then Sarkic have since come in and out.

In the last three seasons Stoke have changed keeper a remarkable 20 times between league games. Clubs don’t normally get very far with that level of inconsistency for the first name on their teamsheet.

Neil needs someone he can hang his hat on, a reliable keeper who will be expected to play 40-plus games. Sarkic, if he can stay out of the treatment room – and his injuries at Shrewsbury, Birmingham and Stoke over his last three seasons are unconnected – would seem like a big tick in that box.

Have your say on which loan player you would most like back by taking part in the Big Stoke City Forum below.

Should Stoke try to re-sign Sarkic? Have your say in the comments section

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