New Stoke City Manager Reveals 'Five or Six' Players Will Likely Leave the Club This Summer
Stoke City manager Gary Rowett has revealed that five or six players will need to leave the club this summer, but the Potters have not received any bids for those players.
The former Derby boss wants to add further quality and depth to the Championship side ahead of their first season in the second tier since the 2007/08 campaign, but cannot do this without letting players leave the club first.
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And the 44-year-old says that the lack of interest in Stoke's players demonstrates how poorly they have been playing in recent seasons.
Rowett told Stoke-On-Trent Live: "There has to be exits. I think there are probably five or six players that will need to leave the building for various reasons. It's normal for some players to go in order to strengthen how much we want to strengthen.
"But until there are offers for players you can't just let someone leave. You can't let someone leave until there's a financial offer for someone to take them.
"It's a bit of an eye opener for some of the players maybe the fact that there are not lots of teams clamouring to sign them, which means we haven't performed well enough. In turn, that means they have to look at themselves and say they haven't done enough."
Rowett has already overseen somewhat of an overhaul of players during the summer transfer window, as players such as Xherdan Shaqiri (Liverpool), Lee Grant (Manchester United), Marc Muniesa (Girona) and Ramadan Sobhi (Huddersfield) have all found new clubs.
On top of this, Premier League stalwarts Glen Johnson and Stephan Ireland have been released, while winger Jese has returned to Paris Saint-Germain after an unsuccessful loan spell.
The club have replaced these players with striker Benik Afobe, Huddersfield winger Tom Ince, Nigeria midfielder Oghenekaro Etebo, goalkeeper Adam Federici and West Brom wide man James McClean.
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There are still doubts over goalkeeper Jack Butland's future at the bet365 Stadium, while Bojan, Badou N'Diaye and Erik Pieters have all suffered minor pre-season injuries.
Stoke and Rowett start their new season on Sunday with a trip to Elland Road to take on Leeds United. The summer transfer window shuts the following week on 9th August.
