Clubs considering offers for Stoke City star in January | OneFootball

The winger is liked by a number of other clubs.

Stoke City winger Jun-ho Bae is on a number of clubs' transfer radars as the January window approaches, according to Fraser Fletcher.

A much higher percentage of Asian players have come over to play in England in recent years and proven themselves to be successful, Bae being one of them.

He arrived at the bet365 Stadium late on in the 2023 summer window from Daejeon Hana Citizen and made a solid impact on the Potters in his first season, providing two goals and five assists.

Less than halfway into this term and the South Korean international has already matched his number of assists from the previous term, but is yet to get off the mark when it comes to finding the back of the net.

Jun-ho Bae attracting January attention

The 21-year-old's continual improvement in a Stoke shirt has caught the eye of some unnamed teams who have a "serious interest" in the winger, according to Fletcher, who reports for TEAMtalk.

It is claimed that clubs are weighing up potential moves for him ahead of the winter window.

The outlet has also reported on some of Stoke's other expected January business. Tom Cannon's strong performances led some to believe that a January recall of the striker by his parent club, Leicester City, may be on the cards in the new year, but TEAMtalk report that the Foxes aren't planning on doing this.

Stoke need to hold on to Jun-ho Bae

It'd be fair to say that Stoke aren't the most talented attacking team in the Championship. With Bae, Cannon, Lewis Koumas and Million Manhoef, they do have quality, but their record shows that they aren't as sharp as other sides in the final third.

Stoke have scored the joint-fourth fewest goals of all the second tier clubs so far this season. As a team like that, you can't really afford to lose one of your biggest threats going forward, even if they are yet to score a goal this season.

The qualities that Bae brings to Pelach's side would be sorely missed if one of the interested clubs were to act on their intrigue and make a move for him. Otherwise, the Potters could find themselves being sucked back towards another relegation scrap.

Stoke face Sheffield Wednesday this weekend in one of Saturday's early kick-offs. There is a doubt over whether Bae's counterpart, Manhoef, will be fit enough to face the Owls after he limped off in City's 2-2 draw with Cardiff City.

Narcis Pelach is starting to get some potentially key players back ahead of a busy Christmas period, including summer signings Sam Gallagher and Bosun Lawal.

The former Celtic midfielder made his debut against the Bluebirds on Saturday, after a stress fracture in his back was flagged up. Gallagher, meanwhile, had been on the mend after sustaining a hamstring injury.

There's hope that both will be available again for the early trip to Hillsborough, but the striker did get a whack on his knee in the latter stages of last weekend's draw, putting him in slight doubt.