Stoke City are heading towards the final fortnight of the summer transfer window with Alex Neil casting the net for players who can really make a difference.
Variations of the same question will have been asked in Stoke City households over the last couple of weeks.
How will Alex Neil keep all four centre-backs happy if he brings in another? How will Alex Neil keep all his midfielders happy if he brings in another one or two? How will Alex Neil keep all his forwards happy if he’s still looking to bring in forwards?
The bottom line, as Neil hinted at when he was talking about pecking orders last week, is that his priority is to make the team better. It might even be more important for players to be hungry than happy, albeit hopefully they can be both.
Stoke ultimately have to be better in every position and every department than they have been for the last five years. Ben Wilmot, Tyrese Campbell and Jacob Brown have been bright spots but bright spots in a team that has finished in the bottom half.
One of the haunting aspects through Stoke’s decline has been going through transfer windows that haven’t improved the starting XI.
They have been at their best when they have brought in a new player that, on paper, should be better than what you’ve got. On occasion, a current player – like Glenn Whelan time and again – would redouble his efforts, raise his own game again and keep the shirt.
Stoke are pretty well placed going into the last two-and-a-half weeks of the transfer window, with a core of a squad now in the building that should be competitive in the Championship.
They can afford to be picky and Neil has a mind to be ruthless. It’s not about just bolstering different areas, it’s finding players who can make a difference. If they bring in another striker, for example, they will all know that the one who scores goals or enables a winning team will be the one that gets picked. If you don’t like that, lump it.
Everyone will have an idea of the best starting XI after 11pm on September 1 but in some ways that will be the firing gun in the fight for selection. The gauntlet is being thrown down to everyone old and new to prove that, ultimately, they can take the club to the Premier League.
“What will happen,” said the manager, “is that the best players will see the other ones off. It’s as simple as that.”
