Alex Neil's Stoke City January transfer hint is good news but could frustrate supporters | OneFootball

Highlights

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Stoke City have had a fairly decent season so far as they sit in mid-table after a massive summer transfer window in Alex Neil's first full campaign at the club.

The former Sunderland manager joined after Michael O'Neill was sacked in August 2022 but he couldn't have the desired impact as Stoke only finished 16th.

Neil brought in 18 new signings in the summer as part of an adjusted transfer strategy at the Bet365 Stadium – with the Potters targetting younger players from across Europe.

The Stoke boss has regularly referenced that significant player turnover as a reason why it took them a little while to get going this term.

It seems like January will be a quieter window for them and while that might not be hugely popularly among supporters, it could well be good news for the club.

What did Alex Neil say about the January transfer window?

Speaking in the press conference before Stoke's 0-0 draw against Coventry City, Neil said: "I think that this rebuild started in the summer and that allowed us to basically get players en masse into the club.

"Then I think we can sit down and we can then really start to cherry-pick the areas that we feel we can still strengthen and also bits that we maybe need to bring some competition in.

"Maybe there’s a couple of different bits and bobs that we maybe didn't manage to cover off in the last window. Bear in mind, you're never going to be able to tick every single box in one window. That's nearly impossible.

"We got really close to it, which I think speaks volumes of what we have done, but we’ve still got a few areas that we need to try to strengthen."

So it appears that there are only specific areas that they want to improve with the goalkeeping department likely to be one due to the fact Mark Travers was recalled from his loan by Bournemouth.

Why is it a good thing that Stoke don't sign a lot of players in January?

As with any team that has success, things take time to fall into place and most importantly, players take time to settle – especially in a new country.

Stoke's recent record ahead of a busy festive period shows that progress is being made and that adding large numbers of new players isn't the right plan of action.

A lot of the young players that he brought in the summer are now starting to find some cohesive chemistry with one another whilst also understanding the expectations on their shoulders.

If there is another big recruitment drive midway through the campaign, Neil will have to start that process all over again so Stoke supporters should be optimistic about his comments, as it sounds like he knows exactly what positions he wants to improve on rather than upgrading the whole squad.

Things are moving in the right direction for the Potters and it's now a case of doing some fine-tuning as they look to close the gap on the top six.