“A very sensible and quite exciting signing” – Stoke City fan pundit reacts as Potters seal transfer for 22-year-old | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

New Stoke City signing Gavin Kilkenny is the type of midfielder the Potters need following the departures of some of their key midfielders this summer, according to the view of FLW’s Stoke City fan pundit Ben Rowley.

The Republic of Ireland youth international officially arrived from AFC Bournemouth yesterday, with the 22-year-old unlikely to feature heavily in Scott Parker’s plans in the near future following the Cherries’ promotion back to the Premier League.

He did record 18 appearances in all competitions for the south coast outfit last term after making his full breakthrough at the Vitality Stadium – but most of these displays came during the first few months of the season.

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After that, he found it difficult to compete with the likes of Lewis Cook and Jefferson Lerma in the middle of the park, with Todd Cantwell’s loan move in January pushing him further down the pecking order.

The Potters, on the other hand, needed another central midfielder following confirmation that Joe Allen had decided to move away from the bet365 Stadium on the expiration of his contract.

And though FLW’s Stoke pundit Rowley doesn’t believe Kilkenny is a like-for-like replacement – he believes he could be an extremely useful addition in Staffordshire.

Speaking to Football League World before this deal was confirmed, he said: “I know he started the season very well at Bournemouth last year and seemed to be one of the better players in the team, albeit dropping out as the season went on.

“But he seems to me to be a very sensible and quite exciting signing by Stoke if it does happen.

“He seems to fit that defensive midfield role or deep midfield role particularly well with his long passing range and his ability for his team to keep the ball and I think Stoke need that.

“We’ve lost two midfield players in Joe Allen and Mario Vrancic and we needed someone of quality, perhaps different to those players as well in terms of their technique and prowess.

“Kilkenny is a very different type of midfielder to either of those but he’s probably the midfielder that we need, someone with a clear direction in terms of their talent.

“And I think Stoke’s midfield now is very versatile and we need that because that’s Michael O’Neill’s strength.”

The Verdict:

Considering some of the midfielders they already have at their disposal including Nick Powell, Lewis Baker, Sam Clucas and Josh Laurent, it does feel as though they needed someone who could sit in a deeper role.

Although Laurent could arguably be the man to fill that spot, you just feel he may not have the discipline to sit in front of the back three without bursting forward on a number of occasions, potentially leaving his defence exposed on the counter-attack.

The ex-Reading man’s energy could be more useful in an advanced midfield role and after playing in an attacking position under Paul Ince during the latter stages of the 2021/22 campaign, that gives O’Neill different options.

Peter Etebo has returned from Watford – but the Potters are probably actively looking to move him on because he’s unlikely to be on a small wage – so the Potters shouldn’t be looking to include him in their plans.

The rest of their midfield, however, is starting to shape up quite nicely and they will be hoping to continue conducting some smart incoming business between now and the end of the summer window.