Stoke City Hope to Complete Several New Signings Before League Opener Against Everton

Stoke City boss Mark Hughes is hopeful of completing several transfers before the Premier League gets underway. 

So far the Potters have concluded deals for former Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher, Hull City defender Josh Tymon, Blackburn Rovers youngster Tre Pemberton. The highly-admired Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma has also arrived on loan.

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Hughes however has made it clear that Stoke's summer business is not over. The Potters manager has suggested that he expects to see new faces at the club before the window closes.

Speaking to the Stoke Sentinel, Hughes said: "We are hopeful in that regard, ideally that would be the case. Transfers have a natural life in terms of how long it takes and we can't affect that unfortunately."

The Potters have lost a number of first team players so far this summer, with both Jonathan Walters and Phil Bardsley joining Burnley for a reported combined fee of £5m, and highly-rated Austrian winger Marko Arnautovic joining West Ham United for a club record £20m.

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Stoke lost 4-2 to German second tier side FC St Pauli on Tuesday night after Hughes named a much changed side that included veteran striker Peter Crouch. 

Hughes said: "We took this game because we knew at this stage of pre-season there are always guys who need more game time.

"That's why we took it so close to the game at the weekend. It served that purpose but clearly we wanted a better performance both collectively and from individuals. It wasn't to be. Some positives, some negatives but the guys who played will be better physically for having got the game time."

Stoke are set to conclude their pre-season against Bundesliga high-flyers RB Leipzig on Saturday, before turning their attentions to their Premier League clash against Everton the following weekend.