Eight players who regret leaving Stoke City after key...

Eight players who regret leaving Stoke City after key transfer decisions.

As StokeonTrentLive looks back at players who will be kicking themselves for leaving Stoke City, it’s evident that sometimes the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

The list of players who excelled at Stoke City before concluding their futures were better off outside the Potteries isn’t very long.

To begin with, one of Stoke’s main advantages during their Premier League-winning seasons was their ability to retain their best players. Glenn Whelan and Jon Walters stayed put for the most part of their careers, while Ryan Shawcross played his whole career at the club.Steven Nzonzi did depart, but it would be a stretch to believe that he regrets going to Seville now that he has a Europa League championship, a call-up from France, and a medal for winning the World Cup hanging around his neck.With Stoke losing ground and Marko Arnautovic’s bank account rising, it’s unlikely that the player had many restless nights during his absence.Despite his refusal to go, Robert Huth went on to win the Premier League.

But exits haven’t always gone as hoped for players who had shown potential to be a favourite in red and white. We’ve gone back through the archives to pick out eight what-might-have-beens. Any other suggestions to add to this catalogue? Join the debate in the comments section.

- Dujon Sterling
  
  While on loan from Chelsea, Dujon Sterling was one of the first names on Alex Neil’s squad sheet in 2022–2023 and shown strength, speed, and discipline at either right or left back. As a result, Neil considered him to be one of his top targets when his Stamford Bridge contract expired in the summer of 2023.
  
  Rather, the 24 year old defender signed a long-term contract with Rangers in Glasgow as a free agent. “European football was a no-brainer for me,” he explained. It is impossible to refuse. Despite my affection for Stoke, I would have returned; you have to seize the opportunity to play European football at such a young age in your career.
  
  But a year and a bit on, Sterling has been a fringe man at Ibrox, getting a few appearances in various competitions but largely on the bench.
Peter Etebo

Etebo never seemed to be satisfied with the Championship. He signed before Gary Rowett was appointed and was subsequently benched until Nathan Jones arrived, seemingly planning a summer exit that never materialized. He was among the first people to knock on Michael O’Neill’s door in the hopes of being let out, but he never appeared again after that.

However, for various reasons, the loans he had to Watford, Galatasaray, Getafe, and Aris were mainly disappointing, and it’s reasonable to assume that a year spent grinding it out in the Championship would have been better for his resume.

Even though he is still only 28 years old, he is attempting to launch his career after a protracted period as a free agent, six years after making an impression at the 2018 World Cup. At
Ramadan Sobhi

This is an intriguing look back at how Stoke signed Ramadan Sobhi, his flashes of brilliance during a difficult Premier League season for Stoke, and the Ramadan craze of tens of thousands of Egyptian football fans who followed his progress.

“The Premier League’s intensity did prove to be too much for him at that point, but he could manage himself thanks to his skill and technique,” Stoke scout Kevin Cruickshank stated.”He played more games faster than we thought he would. Our first estimate was that it would take him six to twelve months to adjust to a new language and culture, but he found things difficult because we were experiencing a downturn.

“When you consider how things might have turned out differently if he had gone to play consistently and score goals in Belgium or Holland, he went to another relegation battle with Huddersfield.”

In the end, Ramadan returned to Egypt to perform for Al Ahly and Pyramids, though not nearly in the same limelight as was originally thought.
Philipp Wollscheid

Without being the first name on the roster, Philipp Wollscheid played for Stoke on a fairly regular basis, leading Mark Hughes’ team to ninth-place finishes in 2015 and 2016. Although he lost favor at the beginning of the 2016–17 season, nobody could have foreseen how drastically his career would decline after going out on loan.

He was almost shunned at Wolfsburg, moved to Metz, and played in just one cup before effectively retiring at the age of 28 two years after excelling for Stoke against Liverpool in a League Cup semi-final at Anfield. He reappeared at Kaiserslautern as a young coach and to play five-a-side futsal.

We spoke to him last winter about his career and how it ended.

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