Mark Robins issues exciting Stoke City transfer update | OneFootball

New Stoke City boss Mark Robins has revealed a transfer update on the club's January plans

Newly-unveiled Stoke City boss Mark Robins has suggested his side are going to be active in the January transfer window amid injuries to key players.

The 55-year-old became Stoke's third permanent manager of the 2024/25 campaign when he was appointed on New Year's Day following the sacking of Narcis Pelach, who was dismissed just three months after replacing Steven Schumacher at the helm.

Robins himself had been out of work before returning to management with Stoke, having seen his revered seven-and-a-half-year stay with Championship rivals Coventry City - whom he guided all the way from League Two - abruptly cut short back in November.

Widely regarded among the finest bosses at Championship level due to the longevity and upwards trajectory of his work with the Sky Blues, the new appointment represents something of a coup for Stoke, who are struggling at the wrong end of the league table this term.

After 25 matches, Stoke are 19th in the Championship and are separated from 22nd-placed Hull City by just four points.

They did well to take four points from the recent double-header against promotion hopefuls Sunderland and Burnley, and Robins will fancy his chances of making his Bet 365 Stadium bow in style when the Potters take on bottom-side Plymouth Argyle tomorrow afternoon.

Mark Robins' Stoke City transfer update

Robins has confirmed transfer discussions are already being held as he looks to get the ball rolling as quickly as possible in the Potteries.

The ex-Coventry boss admitted how difficult deals are to broker at this time of year and that the summer window is going to be crucial, although he did point to a squad "imbalance" owing to injuries to key players such as Ben Pearson and more recently star winger Million Manhoef, which may suggest Stoke are going to be active in the market.

It will be interesting to see how Robins navigates his first window in charge, having taken the job on the same day the window opened, and Stoke are in need of reinforcements if they intend on having a stronger second half of the season.

Robins the Stoke Sentinel his opening press conference: "It’s notoriously tough, January. Really, really tough to operate in any way.

"We’ll make sure, again, everything is aligned, and we don’t make any mistakes where we can damage the next window that opens, which is a really big window for us in the summer.

"But we’ve got to make sure we’ve got enough to be able to be really competitive this time around. We’ve got to keep the players moving in that forward direction and trying to ensure that the energy is there to be able to do that.

"There are injuries to key players in key positions so there’s a slight imbalance to things. There’s some young players there, it’s a youngish squad anyway. But it looks exciting.

"We’ve just got to make sure we keep it moving in that direction. We’ll do the work in the background to make sure things move forward properly and we’ll get it done."

Stoke City should back Mark Robins in the summer

As Robins himself alluded to, the January window is extremely difficult, as clubs often refrain from entertaining mid-season deals, while the desperation that some teams find themselves in also makes for increased, and more intensified competition.

You would imagine that Robins will be looking to fine-tune his squad more than anything else this month, but the summer is where it's going to count as wholesale incomings and outgoings will only be expected come the end of the campaign.