Concerns raised over Stoke City pursuit of Crystal Palace attacker | OneFootball

FLW's Stoke City fan pundit has given his verdict on the club's pursuit of Jesurun Rak-Sakyi

Jesurun Rak-Sakyi will struggle for regular game time at Stoke City if he makes a loan switch from Crystal Palace.

It has been reported that the Potters are among the clubs eyeing a move for the winger this summer.

But they face competition from the likes of Luton Town, Sunderland, QPR and Blackburn Rovers in the race to his temporary signature.

Rak-Sakyi has been unable to break into the Eagles’ first team squad since earning his way into senior football while on loan at Charlton in the 2022-23 campaign.

The 21-year-old made just six appearances in the Premier League last season, all of which came from the bench (all stats from Fbref).

Stoke City concern raised over Jesurun Rak-Sakyi pursuit

FLW’sStoke fan pundit Liam Birks believes that Rak-Sakyi could be a good signing to bring into Steven Schumacher’s first team squad.

However, he is unsure whether he could earn the playing time Palace would want him to as part of any loan agreement.

“It’s interesting Stoke being linked with Palace’s Rak-Sakyi,” Birks told Football League World.

“I couldn’t see him, if he came in, starting over Million Manhoef and Bae Jun-ho, who are both probably our best performers last season, although are both young and new to the league.

“I don’t think, [with] the amount of clubs after him, that Palace will want him sitting on the bench and being, not a bit-part player, but I think they’ll want him playing as much as possible.

“Maybe that wouldn’t be an option at Stoke.

“If it was up to me, I’d take him, sure.

“But I can’t see Palace having him going out unless he’s anything other than a starter and, like I say, Million Manhoef and Bae Jun-ho have both shown they can by the looks of things tear this league apart if they click.

“So I’d be interested in him signing, and I think it’d be a good move for Stoke, but I don’t think Palace would want him to come.”

Stoke’s summer business so far

Stoke have already made three signings this summer already, as Schumacher looks to build a team capable of improving on their 17th place finish in the table last year.

Eric Junior Bocat, Viktor Johansson and Ben Gibson have all already arrived, with preparations beginning for the upcoming campaign.

Stoke have until 30 August to complete any remaining deals before the market shuts for the year.

The Potters’ league campaign will get underway on 10 August at home against Coventry City.

Rak-Sakyi game time is a concern

Stoke signing Rak-Sakyi would be an interesting move to try and strengthen their attacking options next season.

The winger has not developed much in the last year, and he needs to be gaining experience next year away from Palace.

But the concerns over his game time at Stoke are quite real, and could be enough to put the Eagles off completing a move.

Given the competition around his signing, that could be enough to sway the player towards signing elsewhere.