Stoke City hit the jackpot in the summer transfer window when they swooped to sign Wales international Sorba Thomas on a permanent deal from Huddersfield Town.
The electric left winger has scored nine goals and provided six assists in 28 appearances in the Championship this season for the Potters, per Sofascore, and no player in the squad has scored more goals or provided more assists.
Thomas leads the team for goals (nine), assists (six), big chances created (13), xA (5.06), goals and assists (15), and key passes per game (1.9) in the league, per Sofascore, which illustrates his importance to Mark Robins.
He has been an incredibly influential figure at the top end of the pitch and, because of that, it is hard to argue against him being the best signing of their summer window.
Stoke considering move for Premier League talent
Now, the Potters are reportedly looking at a Premier League talent who could arrive at the club as their best signing since they landed Thomas from the Terriers.
According to SportsBoom, Stoke City are interested in a deal to sign Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson before the end of the January transfer window.
The report claims that Robins is exploring a late swoop to bring the English shot-stopper to the club to bolster his goalkeeping ranks, after an injury to Gavin Bazunu.
Viktor Johansson is already out for the season and his replacement, Bazunu, is now out for six weeks with an injury of his own, leaving Stoke to look for another shot-stopper.
SportsBoom reveals that Patterson has now been identified as a possible loan signing to plug the gap between the sticks as the Potters go in search of a play-off finish.
Why Stoke should sign Patterson
The first question should be: why did Stoke not pursue Patterson instead of Bazunu? If he is available, Robins must secure a short-term deal for the shot-stopper because he could be their best signing since Thomas.
Bringing Bazunu in from Southampton felt like a slightly bizarre choice given how poorly he had performed in the league during his time with the Saints. Per Sofascore, the Irishman has conceded 6.61 more goals than expected in the Championship this season, and let in 11.52 more than expected in the 2023/24 campaign.
This means that the Ireland international has conceded a staggering 18.13 more goals than expected based on the xG against him in his second tier career, which is dismal, to say the least.
Patterson, however, has conceded 2.31 fewer goals than expected in the Championship since the start of the 2023/24 campaign, per Sofascore, which suggests that he would be a significantly better option in goal than Bazunu.
Unlike the Southampton loanee, the Englishman has proven that he can be a quality operator between the sticks at Championship level, by helping out his defence with quality saves on a regular basis.
Stoke were at risk, had he not picked up an injury, of Bazunu’s poor shot-stopping impacting their results in the next few weeks and months of the season, as they are currently five points better off than their xPTS, thanks in part to them conceding 8.8 fewer goals than expected, per FotMob.
Johansson played a huge role in that, of course, but he is now out until the end of the season, and it would have been down to Bazunu to carry the torch, and his statistics suggest that Stoke’s results would have plummeted without quality shot-stopping in goal.
|
23/24 Championship |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Games |
45 |
41 |
|
Save percentage |
69% |
63% |
|
Saves |
117 |
90 |
|
Goals prevented |
+4.06 |
-11.52 |
|
Error led to shot |
1 |
2 |
|
Error led to goal |
1 |
1 |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
||
When Bazunu and Patterson last played in the Championship at the same time, as shown in the table above, it was clear who the superior goalkeeper out of the two was.
The Sunderland talent, who was hailed as an “outstanding” shot-stopper by journalist Josh Bunting, could join the Potters as a huge upgrade on the injured Irishman, and perfectly replace Johansson between the sticks.
Patterson has not featured in the Premier League this season, as Robin Roefs has emerged as the first-choice at the Stadium of Light, but his history in the Championship shows that he would be a quality addition to the squad.
That is why he would be their best signing since Thomas last summer, because he would be a much better signing than Bazunu and has the potential to be as influential at the defensive side of the game as Thomas is at the top end of the pitch.
It is now down to the club to agree a deal to bring him in on loan until the end of the season to bolster their hopes of earning promotion to the top-flight.
