Stoke City have had to revise plans and then revise again as key players have been struck down with injuries during the transfer window
13:46, 19 Jan 2026
John Coates, Jon Walters and Mark Robins chat on the touchline after arriving at Ewood Park.
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John Coates, Jon Walters and Mark Robins are trying to find solutions in a difficult transfer market.(Image: Cody Froggatt/PA Wire)
Stoke City are heading into the final fortnight of the transfer window looking for as many as three new additions following an avalanche of injuries.
Assessment of a serious injury to Divin Mubama will dictate what happens next with the England under-21s striker, who is on a season-long loan from Manchester City. Stoke, Man City and the 21-year-old himself will have to decide where he is best receiving treatment depending on how long he is expected to be ruled out.
He has been a regular starter for Stoke this term but was stretchered off early in the second-half of a 0-0 draw with QPR and taken to hospital to see if he had suffered a fracture of his lower leg or ankle or if he had sustained ligament damage.
In an unbelievable run of bad luck, he was the fifth Stoke striker to suffer a major injury inside a month – with even Nathan Lowe and Emre Tezgel, who had been out on loan, going down with a leg and ankle problem respectively.
Robert Bozenik has needed a shoulder operation and Sam Gallagher is back with the physios with a hamstring issue to leave Mark Robins with Lamine Cisse as his sole fit option down the middle – and summer Cisse had not played in that role for Stoke until Mubama went down on Saturday.
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Stoke have had to reassess their plans for January as senior players have been struck down. Goalkeeper and player of the season Viktor Johansson has also needed shoulder surgery, midfielder Lewis Baker has had an operation on his heel and right-back Junior Tchamadeu returned home from the Africa Cup of Nations with a knee injury.
Stoke have already moved to bring in Gavin Bazunu on loan from Southampton and the 23-year-old keeper kept a clean sheet on his debut. Tommy Simkin had kept three clean sheets too since his emergency return from a loan at Leyton Orient. Having those two gave Robins the space to sanction Jack Bonham’s exit to Bolton Wanderers.
The defensive record over the last few weeks – and flexibility of Maksym Talovierov, Bosun Lawal and Ben Wilmot – is likely to see Stoke put a search for a full-back on hold given the priorities at the top end with a budget constrained by financial fair play rules.
They had already been on the lookout for more quality in the wide roles to complement Sorba Thomas, Million Manhoef and Cisse and that search is expected to continue. The strongest link has been with Jerurun Rak-Sakyi, the 23-year-old Crystal Palace winger who has also been on the radar of Swansea and Celtic.
A new striker for the role down the middle was always going to be hard to find in the January market but Stoke’s hand has been forced by events of the last few weeks – to the point where they might need to bring in two, let alone one, perhaps with one as an option at number 10.
It is a small pool of available players who would both be good and within budget and Robins would ideally want someone with Championship experience too in the hope they can hit the ground running as quickly as possible.
There are two spaces available in the 25-man allotted senior squad and three of five loan spots are taken – although the Mubama situation could yet create another.
It is not the transfer window that Stoke had expected but they remain just two points outside the Championship play-off places with the best defence in the division and 19 games remaining to try to sustain their first genuine push for the top six since returning to this level in 2018.
Business so far in January
In: Tommy Simkin (recalled from Leyton Orient), Gavin Bazunu (loan, from Southampton)
Out: Jamie Donley (returned to Tottenham Hotspur), Andre Vidigal (released), Adriel Walker (loan, to Buxton), Freddie Anderson (loan, to Barrow), Kieron Willox (loan, to Inverness Caledonian Thistle), Jack Bonham (undisclosed, to Bolton Wanderers)
Stoke City senior squad as it stands
BETWEEN THE STICKS
Gavin Bazunu, Viktor Johansson, Frank Fielding
AT THE BACK
Junior Tchamadeu, Eric Bocat, Ben Gibson, Ben Wilmot, Bosun Lawal, Maksym Talovierov, Ashley Phillips, Aaron Cresswell
IN THE MIDDLE
Ben Pearson, Tatsuki Seko, Lewis Baker, Steven Nzonzi, Tomas Rigo
UP FRONT
Bae Junho, Million Manhoef, Divin Mubama, Sorba Thomas, Lamine Cisse, Sam Gallagher, Robert Bozenik
Stoke under-21s contracted players
BETWEEN THE STICKS
Tommy Simkin, Noah Cooper, Caleb Clothier, True Grant
AT THE BACK
Syd Agina, Freddie Anderson, Josh Bickerton, Jaden Dixon, Laurence Giani, Jake Griffin, Jaden Mears, Francis Oppong, Pijus Otegbayo,
IN THE MIDDLE
Ruben Curley, Will Smith, Gabriel Kelly, Wiktor Gromek, Darius Lipsiuc, Ryan Liu
UP FRONT
Chinonso Chibueze, Favour Fawunmi, Jerome Kyremeh, Nathan Lowe, Josh Maskall, Japhet Matondo, Emre Tezgel, Adriel Walker, Kieron Willox
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