Stoke City were prepared to move quickly when disaster struck for a third time
08:17, 29 Jan 2026Updated 08:19, 29 Jan 2026
Jon Walters and John Coates in the stands at Stoke City.
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Jon Walters and John Coates in the stands at Stoke City.(Image: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
Stoke City brought forward a summer swoop for Milan Smit after being hit by successive injury blows this month.
Stoke had earmarked the 22-year-old Go Ahead Eagles striker as a target for the next window but as Robert Bozenik (shoulder), then Sam Gallagher (hamstring), then Divin Mubama (ankle) went down, plus Nathan Lowe (leg) and Emre Tezgel (ankle), the timeline was redrawn.
The recruitment team moved quickly last week to strike a deal, trying to make sure he was registered in time to serve a one-match suspension last weekend and be available to make his debut against Southampton on Saturday (12.30pm).
Stoke have been coy about whether they managed to rush it through in time as Smit, who watched the 1-1 draw with Birmingham, was only confirmed on Sunday morning.
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Agent Nikkie Bruinenberg told the Dutch press: “Things really took off last Sunday (January 18) when the Stoke striker (Mubama) was injured. By Monday morning, Go Ahead Eagles had received an offer.
“Negotiations then proceeded very smoothly because Go Ahead and Stoke were very good and quick in their communication. A verbal agreement was reached before the (Go Ahead) players were scheduled to travel to Nice on Wednesday (for a Europa League game on Thursday). Then I asked for permission to travel to England for the medical. That’s why we decided together it wasn’t such a good idea to play that game in Nice.
“We agreed that if everything was largely in order on paper, Milan could fly from Nice to Manchester. On Wednesday, everything was largely in order on paper between the lawyers but then Go Ahead still wanted to let Milan go after the match on Friday. That hadn’t been agreed upon. Milan and I then decided together that it wasn't a good idea to play football in Nice.
“That was also in Go Ahead’s best interest, because it was a record deal and a life-changing one for Milan, and we didn’t want to jeopardise that. Ultimately, we received approval to go on Thursday.”
Smit had joined on an initial loan deal that is expected to become permanent in the summer for a fee of about £4.8 million.
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