Stoke City have to prioritise Birmingham City agreement ahead of February 3 deadline

Stoke City have to prioritise Birmingham City agreement ahead of February 3 deadline

To strengthen Mark Robins’ team, Stoke City must look for late midfield additions this week. Krystian Bielik, a

Polish international for Birmingham City who has been linked to a move to the bet365 Stadium recently, must be

signed as soon as possible before next Monday.

With only two loanees signed thus far—Josh Wilson-Esbrand from Manchester City and Ali Al-Hamadi from Ipswich

Town, respectively—the Potters have experienced a slow transfer month.

Boss Mark Robins is bound to want to add to his squad as the deadline edges ever closer, and versatile players that

can play in both midfield and in central defence are set to be on the agenda, amid injury and form issues in his squad

with Stoke currently in the midst of a relegation battle in 20th place.

Despite multiple long-term injury problems, Bielik has been a Championship regular for years with Derby County

and his current club, Birmingham. Surprisingly, he has stayed with the Blues in League One this season as they

appear to be headed back to the second division at the first attempt.

According to TEAMtalk reporter Fraser Fletcher, the Potters must make an effort to sign him before the winter

window closes next week because of his quality, adaptability, and leadership qualities, which set him apart in the

third division.

Krystian Bielik may want a move away from Birmingham City

Bielik began his career with Legia Warsaw in his home country, but in 2015, at the age of 17, Arsenal paid £2.4

million for his services due to his great potential.

Despite having a five-year contract with the Gunners, he only managed to play twice for their senior squad while on

loan at Birmingham, Walsall, and Charlton Athletic.

Derby paid a club-record £8 million to sign him as their marquee signing before the 2019–20 season because of his

stellar League One play with the Addicks. However, his time at Pride Park was cut short by severe knee injuries, and

he only made 49 appearances for the Rams over three seasons before they were demoted to the third division in 2022.

Bielik rejoined Blues that summer, and he has been able to avoid injury over the past two seasons, but could not save

them from relegation last year, yet was duly appointed club-captain by new head-coach Chris Davies ahead of their

League One campaign after his standout performances despite the drop.

With 26 appearances across all competitions and 18 league starts, the 11-time Polish international has contributed significantly to the Blues’ champions-elect campaign thus far. However, a recent short-term injury has forced him out of the team, and he has only played off the bench in his last three games.

Regardless of the league they are in, Birmingham is easily returning to the second division this season and will have already been making arrangements for the summer transfer window. However, if they get promoted, Bielik might not be included in those plans.

Ben Davies is probably going to make his loan from Rangers a permanent move, while Christoph Klarer, Grant

Hanley, and Alex Cochrane are all expected to stay past the summer.With that said, his hand may be forced to leave

St Andrews this week for a new challenge in a higher league, as well as a better chance of consistent game-time for

the years to come, and a likely increase to his weekly wages.

Krystian Bielik would be a smart addition to Mark Robins’ Stoke City ranks

Stoke is now fighting for relegation, and although manager Robins wants to lead his team out of the bottom three in

the second half of the season, he is also dealing with a number of injuries to his midfielders and defenders.

With Michael Rose and Ashley Phillips as their only available center-backs, Stoke needs a new addition as Ben

Wilmot and Ben Gibson are both currently sidelined. Even when they are all healthy and ready to play, Robins may

still want to add players to his team in that position, particularly if he plans to use a three-at-the-back formation in

the upcoming months.

In addition to playing at the centre of defence, Bielik can also play as a holding midfielder, which greatly appeals to

manager Robins as he currently has a small group of players to choose from in the middle of the park because

Tatsuki Seko is Stoke’s only proven defensive midfield player and Sol Sidibe, Jordan Thompson, Bosun Lawal, and

Ben Pearson are all out.

With almost 130 Championship games under his belt and as Birmingham’s club captain for the current campaign,

the 27-year-old’s possible signing would be a great addition to the Potters’ youthful and mainly inexperienced squad.

Birmingham could make a deal tricky for Stoke this week

Given Chris Davies’ unwillingness to let players leave until a successor is found, it would be shocking to see

Birmingham, who presently lead League One, cut any first-team regulars in the last days of this transfer window.

Before his team’s midweek trip to Huddersfield Town a few days ago, manager Davies gave an update on Bielik’s

fitness after he missed two games due to injury at the beginning of this month. He insisted that the 27-year-old

would play a crucial role for the remainder of this season, which highlights how difficult it could be for the Potters to

sign him anytime soon.

“He’s doing great. Davies told Birmingham’s club media channels, “Like a few of them, they’ve had injuries, a couple

weeks out, and then we’re bringing them back into games before they’ve had much training so they’re almost getting

fit through playing the games.”

“He had a brief appearance against Exeter and then had another brief

“He’s building up but he hasn’t had the training that is sometimes necessary. But he’s fit and available and ready to

go and he’s going to be an important player for us going forward.”

These statements don’t seem to come from a head coach who would be pleased to see his club captain leave so late in

the January transfer window, but Stoke must still aim to add a capable Championship player to their roster to

strengthen their own ranks.

The price tag would be a potential roadblock in the deal if he is willing to move to the Potteries despite possibly

having fewer minutes, but Stoke must pay what is asked for and bring him in as soon as possible as they don’t risk

going over budget and possibly violating FFP.

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