Transfer News Round Up – Week Two – N’Daw, Ibričić, Demidov, Huth, Delvecchio And More

  Already the transfer window is hotting up, with Gareth Barry’s £12 million pound move from Aston Villa to Manchester City and Birmingham’s club record capture of Ecuadorian striker Christian Benitez, being the two biggest deals completed yet. The summer just wouldn’t be the same without dozens of intriguing rumours about Stoke City transfers, both in and out of the club, flying around, so here’s my round up of the second week of speculation.

Players In Rumours:

We have been strongly linked with a move for Newcastle’s attacking midfielder Alan Smith, with the player reportedly very keen to leave the Championship (it feels so good to type that) club.

Sky Sports says Stoke want the unfit and out of form Smith, the general consensus is we could do much better

Last week it was reported by a lot of media outlets that we were set to sign the little-known Peruvian-born Swedish midfielder Andres Vasquez on a free transfer, but now it appears that this will not happen, with the original reports being debunked by the player, having seemingly, as the have a habit of being, blown out of all proportion.

We are sketchily rumoured to have made a bid for Dinamo Zagreb’s £9 million rated Croatian international forward Mario Mandžukić, but if this is the case, we seem to have been unsuccessful, as he is hotly tipped to move to Werder Bremen instead.

Meanwhile, in an apparently more concrete situation, Senegalese midfielder Guirane N’Daw, who plays for FC Nantes, who were relegated from Ligue 1 recently, is said to be travelling to Stoke this week for talks to resurrect a transfer that fell through last summer.

Yet another Senegalese giant for Stoke?

  Players from the former Yugoslav nations seem to be in hot demand this summer, and another we have been linked with is Hadjuk Split’s 23 year old Bosnian international Senijad Ibričić, an attacking midfielder/second striker who, promisingly, is revered for his pace and goalscoring, having already scored 51 league goals from just 153 games.

Another player said to be interesting Stoke manager Tony Pulis is the Ivorian centre-back Steve Gohouri, who currently plays in Germany for Borussia Mönchengladbach and was previously linked with the club last December.

We may also see an influx of American players into the club, as Adrian Heath, the manager of our associate club Austin Aztex has said that he has three our four players he knows are good enough for English football and plans to send for trials at Stoke soon.

Rosenborg’s Norwegian centre-back Vadim Demidov is also reportedly a target for the Potters, though the 22 year old is also attracting interest from Aston Villa.

Demidov – a future Stokie?

Stoke and Wigan are also said to be tracking Middlesbrough forward Jeremie Aliadiere, who is apparently desperate to leave the club after their relegation to the Championship.

Another Middlesbrough player linked with Stoke is Robert Huth, but the Teesiders have warned potential suitors that the German centre-back will not come cheap.

Central midfield is one position Pulis will almost certainly look to strengthen this summer, with one of many likely targets being Sampdoria’s experienced Gennaro Delvecchio.

Finally for this week, the Potters are also rumoured to be eying up a bid for Mauritanian striker Amadou Alassane. The 26 year old plays in France for Le Havre.

Players Out Rumours:

The two former Premier League clubs who will join Newcastle in the Championship next season, Middlesbrough and West Brom, are said to be considering a move for Stoke midfielder Michael Tonge, despite the 26 year old recently saying he is happy to fight for a place at the Britannia Stadium, having started just one league game for the club.

Stoke captain Andy Griffin, who is sure to depart this summer, having admitted a rift with Pulis, is allegedly arousing interest from his former club Newcastle, who he left to join Portsmouth in 2004.

Griffin once scored a stunning Champions League goal for Newcastle against Juventus. It’ll be a long time before anything like that happens again on Tyneside