Stoke City: Steven Schumacher, Plymouth Argyle reunion would complement £1m signing: View | OneFootball

The 2023/24 season proved to be a disappointing one for those of a Stoke City persuasion.

While the Potters will have gone into the campaign again hoping to make a push for promotion back to the Premier League, they would fall some way short of that.

Instead, those connected with the club spent most of the season looking nervously over their shoulder at the Championship relegation zone.

In the end, Stoke would avoid the drop into League One, securing a 17th-place finish, six points clear of the bottom three.

Even so, there will be an emphasis on the Potters to strengthen in the summer transfer window to avoid a repeat of that going forward, and it seems they are already taking steps to do so.

Stoke closing in on Viktor Johansson signing

According to reports on Friday morning from The Daily Telegraph journalist John Percy, Stoke are close to completing the signing of goalkeeper Viktor Johansson from Rotherham United.

The Swede is apparently set to undergo a medical ahead of a move to the Potters after they triggered a £1million release clause in his contract in the wake of the Millers' relegation.

Despite his soon-to-be former club dropping out of the Championship, Johansson certainly impressed this season, producing some excellent performances to keep his side in a number of games.

This, therefore, looks like an excellent piece of business for Stoke to get done, especially with the end of Daniel Iversen's spell on loan from Leicester City leaving them in need of a new number one.

Even so, there may be an argument that this should not be the only piece of recruitment the Potters do in the goalkeeping department this summer, with one potential option to target seemingly making a lot of sense.

Steven Schumacher should eye goalkeeper reunion

There is a case to be made for Stoke to sign another goalkeeper after Johansson this summer.

Both Jack Bonham and Frank Fielding have struggled to establish themselves between the posts for the Potters and are entering the final year of their contracts with the club.

This could therefore represent a last opportunity for Stoke to offload one or both or those individuals.

Having done that, a player they could target to add the required depth they need in the goalkeeping department is Callum Burton, who is a free agent after being released by Plymouth Argyle following the expiration of his contract.

That would reunite the Potters' manager, Steven Schumacher, with Burton, who previously played under him at Plymouth.

During their time together at Home Park, the 27-year-old produced some solid performances.

Perhaps most notable was the hat-trick of penalty saves he delivered in the EFL Trophy semi-final shootout on the club's road to the final of that competition last season.

Thanks to that, Schumacher and Stoke could be confident in Burton to be a reliable option between the posts if he was to make this move, offering cover and competition for Johansson.

Of course, the Potters boss has previously reunited with another player he previously worked with at Home Park since making the move to Stoke, having signed midfielder Luke Cundle on loan from Wolves back in the January transfer window.

That would suggest that Schumacher would not be against linking back up with another in the form of Burton this summer.

As a result, it does seem as though the situation surrounding the departing Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper is one that those at Stoke City may now want to take a keen interest in.