Stoke City had the last laugh after being pipped by Middlesbrough to international winger | OneFootball

Stoke City have had the last laugh with the arrivals of Bae Jun-ho and Million Manhoef, with Middlesbrough beating them to Sammy Silvera.

Stoke City were beaten to the signing of Australian winger Sammy Silvera, and, at the time, it would have been seen as a bit of a blow, but the Potters have certainly, at least so far had the last laugh with who else they managed to bring in.

Silvera was reportedly wanted by Stoke in the summer of 2023, but he was instead lured to the Riverside to join Middlesbrough as Michael Carrick’s Teessiders aimed for promotion.

Whilst Boro, Silvera mightily underwhelmed in terms of his performance level, despite the fact that he still made quite a few appearances for the club.

In the meantime, as Silvera struggled to adapt to English football, Stoke were instead able to focus on the pursuit of both Bae Jun-ho and Million Manhoef, who have become major assets for the club.

Silvera’s struggles saw Stoke dodge a bullet

Silvera broke into the Middlesbrough setup from the get go under Carrick, and provided a couple of assists in some performances that, if not excite, would certainly have at least intrigued supporters as he began to settle.

However, as the 2023/24 season began to go on, he found his starts and minutes more limited, despite making a total of 42 appearances across all competitions as they missed out on a top six finish and the play-off places.

12 starts wasn’t the return that Silvera would have expected in his first Championship season and, early in the summer of 2024, he joined Portsmouth on loan with ‘Boro going on to bring in the likes of Delano Burgzorg, Micah Hamilton and Ben Doak in wide positions.

At Pompey, his time went so poorly that his season-long loan was cut short mid-way through the campaign, and he then found himself sent to Bloomfield Road to spend the rest of last season with Steve Bruce at Blackpool.

With the Seasiders, as they majorly improved in the second-half of the campaign, Silvera enjoyed another short-lived, bright-ish start to his stint, before fading and eventually not being seen on the pitch again after a 2-1 loss to Wrexham on Good Friday.

Stoke stumbled upon better signings

It is an unknown as to whether Stoke would have still pursued both Bae and Manhoef, had they not been beaten to the signing of Silvera, but what is clear as that it would surely have stunted their development at the Bet365 Stadium.

Bae, who arrived from K League side Daejeon Hana Citizen, has become a full international with South Korea since arriving in Staffordshire and, after a steady first season, Stoke, rather than what ‘Boro did with Silvera, trusted him in the 2024/25 campaign.

The 2024/25 season saw him begin to flourish, almost immediately under Steven Schumacher, and then again under the management of both Narcis Pelach and Mark Robins.

He finished the season as a mainstay in the Stoke side and was excellent under Robins in particular, with Stoke supporters now excited to see just how fast and far he can develop.

Manhoef arrived about six months later during the winter transfer window of the 2023/24 season, and he made an instant impact for Stoke as they finished up with a mid-table finish.

In the season of upheaval last year, Manhoef didn’t necessarily dominate the division but, like Bae, the Netherlands U21 international certainly showed signs that he could be capable of doing so.

Next season, Stoke will have two wide players that are very much bedded in at the club, set for their first full campaign under Robins and they could be a pairing that are the envy of the rest of the division.

That may well have not been possible had they been successful in the chase of Silvera, and so whilst it will have stung at a time, they are certainly having the last laugh.