Stoke City have set their sights on Brighton and Hove Albion goalkeeper Christian Walton.
The highly-rated shot stopper has impressed on loan at Wigan Athletic and has now appeared as a summer target for the Potters, according to journalist Alan Nixon on Twitter.
Nathan Jones’ side are planning potential replacements for their current number one, Jack Butland, who could leave for the Premier League in a couple of months’ time.
Walton, who is 23 years-old, spent the last campaign on loan at Wigan and played a key part in their promotion from League One under Paul Cook. He re-joined them last summer and has since played 28 times in all competitions this season.
he started his career at Plymouth Argyle before signing for Brighton in 2013. He has played 4 times for the Seagulls since joining them but has spent most of his time out on loan to gain first-team experience.
Walton’s first loan spells came in the 2015/16 season where he spent the first half of the campaign at Bury before returning to Plymouth for the remainder. He then had separate spells at Luton Town and Southend United last season before he was snapped up by Wigan last summer.
He has also represented England at Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 level so is seen as a promising talent. Brighton may still see him as a long-term option so any potential departure for him in the summer may be on loan again with Stoke monitoring the situation.
