Stoke City should consider summer move for rarely-seen Nottingham Forest player: Opinion | OneFootball

Ideally, Stoke City need to try and minimise their use of the loan market next season with the Potters currently having seven loanees at their disposal.

Bringing in loads of temporary additions isn't helping for the long term, so they need to try and utilise the free agent market more than loans and spend transfer fees on players that can be sold on for a sizeable amount in the future.

Considering they still need to abide by the EFL's financial rules though, they will need to be careful with their money and may need to bring in a few loanees to ensure they have the sufficient quality and depth needed to be competing at the top end of the table next season.

The likes of Ben Pearson, Will Smallbone and Ki-Jana Hoever won't be cheap to replace, so they can't afford to bring in loads of permanent additions.

The left-back department is one that may need to be addressed this summer with Morgan Fox out of contract at the end of this term and Dujon Sterling set to head back to Chelsea.

Football League World understands Fox is attracting interest from Coventry City, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion, so there are no guarantees that he will put pen to paper on a new deal to extend his stay at the bet365 Stadium.

If they want to bring in a top-quality first-choice option on the left, they could look towards Nottingham Forest.

Although Renan Lodi is only on loan at the City Ground this season, the Reds may look to bring in a replacement for him during the next window if they remain in the Premier League and that could make either Harry Toffolo or Omar Richards surplus to requirements in the East Midlands.

Considering his injury problems this season, Richards probably has less interest in him out of the duo at this stage, but has a reasonably impressive CV.

Thriving at Reading during the 2020/21 campaign, he did enough to secure a move to Bayern Munich and was lucky enough to train with some world-class players at the Allianz Arena before his return to England last summer.

You would definitely back him to be better next term than he was with the Royals during 2020/21, meaning that he could be a monster at Championship level.

He may not have been the biggest goalscoring contributor over the years but has played on the wing before and certainly has time to improve his quality in the final third considering he's only 25 at this stage.

Following the departure of former star defender Harry Souttar, solidity is the most important thing for the Potters right now and Richards was superb defensively during the latter stages of his stay at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.

If he can overcome his injury troubles and enjoy a productive pre-season, he could be a good loan addition in Staffordshire.