Stoke City fending off Leeds United's transfer advances feels crucial: View | OneFootball

Stoke City will be delighted to have kept hold of winger Million Manhoef after reported summer interest from Leeds United.

It has been a decent start to the season for Stoke City in the Championship.

After securing survival following a strong end to last season, there is plenty of optimism among Potters supporters that the club can kick on in the year ahead under the guidance of head coach Steven Schumacher.

It was a busy summer at the bet365 Stadium as 10 new signings joined the club, with Schumacher building a younger squad and overseeing a much-needed cultural reset.

After a slightly mixed start to the season, Stoke head into the international break sitting 10th in the table after winning two and losing two of their opening four league games, and while they are yet to find consistency, a number of the summer signings have made a positive impact in the early weeks of the campaign.

However, while the Potters' transfer business has been impressive, perhaps the most important bit of business the club did this summer is keeping hold of winger Million Manhoef, who was reportedly the subject of interest from Leeds United.

Leeds United's interest in Million Manhoef

TEAMtalk claimed last month that Leeds were considering a move for Manhoef as a potential alternative to Jonathan Rowe, who joined Marseille from Norwich City instead of making the switch to Elland Road.

After losing star man Crysencio Summerville to West Ham United, the Whites were in desperate need of reinforcements in the wide areas, with Manhoef emerging on their radar as a possible option, but they eventually signed Largie Ramazani and Manor Solomon from Almeria and Tottenham Hotspur respectively, much to the relief of Stoke.

Leeds were not the only club interested in Manhoef, with a number of unnamed Championship sides said to have been keeping tabs on the Dutch Under-21 international, but it seems the Potters did not receive any bids.

Given that Stoke are believed to value him at over £10 million, it is unlikely that any Championship club would have been able to afford a deal for the winger, but Schumacher will still be relieved that the club were able to retain him.

Keeping hold of Million Manhoef was essential for Stoke City

Manhoef has made a big impression since joining Stoke from Vitesse for a reported fee of €4 million (£3.4 million) in January, and it cannot be underestimated how important it was for the Potters to keep hold of him this summer.

After taking a few months to find his feet in English football, Manhoef enjoyed an excellent end to last season, scoring four goals in the final six games of the campaign to help Schumacher's men secure safety.

Manhoef's fine form has continued into the new season, with the 22-year-old scoring three goals and providing one assist in six appearances in all competitions so far, and his increasing influence was clear in the 1-0 win at Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

With the clock ticking down, it looked as though Stoke would be forced to settle for an underwhelming point at Home Park, but in Schumacher's own words, Manhoef produced a "moment of magic" in the 83rd minute to win the game.

Speaking after the game, Schumacher praised Manhoef for the way he has adapted to the Championship, telling Stoke-on-Trent Live: "He's in good form. If you remember at the back end of last season he scored a few too. We knew when we brought him in last January that he was talented and it might take him a bit of time to get up to speed in the Championship and figure out what it was all about but he's doing really well. When you get him in those areas he can produce moments of magic and today he's done it. We're really pleased because it got us the three points we needed."

It is fair to say that the Potters have lacked players like Manhoef who are capable of coming up with match-winning moments in recent seasons, and he will likely only improve as the campaign progresses, which will be an exciting prospect for supporters.

Leeds are a club with vast financial resources, and it would have been tempting for the Stoke board to cash in on Manhoef this summer amid interest from the Whites, but they deserve huge credit for taking a firm stance and keeping hold of the winger.

Manhoef's growing profile is underlined by his recent call-up to the Netherlands Under-23 squad, and if he continues his development, the Potters could potentially make a significant profit on him in the future.