Stoke City eyeing up Rotherham United transfer raid amid £1m release clause | OneFootball

Swedish goalkeeper Viktor Johansson has been a star performer for Rotherham United in a nightmare Championship season where they are rock bottom of the table and have already been relegated to League One.

The Swedish stopper signed for the Millers as a free agent in September 2020 on a two-year contract, having previously played for Leicester City.

The then 21-year-old featured heavily for Leicester City's under-21's side in the Premier League 2 and EFL Trophy, but never made an appearance for the first team.

Johansson made his Millers debut in a 2-1 victory against Preston North End in the Championship in 2020, and he has since cemented himself as the club's first-choice name between the sticks and has played over 140 times for the club.

The goalkeeper has achieved plenty of success in South Yorkshire, and has won the club's Young Player of the Season and Player of the Year awards, among other individual accolades.

He has also bought silverware to the New York Stadium and was instrumental in Rotherham's 2021/22 EFL Trophy winning campaign in which he had to navigate three penalty shootouts en route to a final victory at Wembley Stadium.

It has looked increasingly likely that Johansson will leave his club in the summer since Rotherham United's relegation to League One was confirmed following a 1-0 home defeat to Plymouth Argyle in early April, with Sheffield United one of the clubs that have been linked in recent times.

One club reportedly after Viktor Johansson's services is Staffordshire-based Stoke City, according to journalist Alan Nixon via his Patreon account.

It is claimed that the Potters will make an offer for the Swedish stopper after their second tier status is confirmed for the 2024/25 season, with a 3-0 win over Plymouth Argyle - the former club of head coach Steven Schumacher - strengthening that hope massively.

Nixon has also claimed that a relegation clause has been inserted into Johansson's Millers contract that could see him leave the New York Stadium for a bargain fee believed to be somewhere in the region of £1 million.

Steven Schumacher must improve his goalkeeping options

If Stoke boss Schumacher wants to improve his side next season, then he must address the options in his goalkeeping department.

The Potters have tried four different goalkeepers this season in the league, which is the most of any team, and have failed to settle on any one of them.

Daniel Iversen, Jack Bonham, Mark Travers, and Tommy Simkin have all contributed to their team's poor goalkeeping performance. Their post-shot expected goals minus goals conceded statistic, according to data from FBref, is -3.0, meaning that they have conceded three more goals than they should have done.

It is important to note though that Stoke were stung early on in the season as loan signing Travers was recalled by parent club Bournemouth outside of the transfer window due to injury issues at the Vitality Stadium, which has left the likes of Bonham and January loan signing Iversen to pick up the pieces.

Johansson has performed far better for a Rotherham United side who have struggled even more than Stoke this season. His score for the same 'post-shot expected goals minus goals conceded' statistic alone is +1.1, also according to the same FBred data.

The Swedish goalkeeper is a clear upgrade on any of Stoke's current goalkeeping options, and his signing should be a priority in the summer transfer window.

Stoke spent and invested plenty last summer on new signings, and with Schumacher likely wanting to mould the squad in his own shape, Johansson could be the first of many through the door in the coming months.