Stoke City’s Tom Ince is being linked with a move to Turkish side Goztepe after falling down the pecking order this season.
Stoke City have made strides under Michael O’Neill. But one player who’s been left behind is Ince. Signing from Huddersfield Town in a deal worth £10million back in 2018, Ince has since scored nine goals in 83 Championship appearances for the Potters.
But he’s been limited to just seven Championship appearances this time round. O’Neill has been pressed on Ince’s position at the club and speaking about the 28-year-old last month, he told Stoke Sentinel:
“He’s trained well for a player who has been out of the team. He comes in every day, trains well and works hard. He gets his head down. He’s probably been a little unfortunate because Tyrese has played in his position.”
Remaindering coy on any potential transfer, O’Neill could be ready to offload the winger after the recent arrivals of Jack Clarke and Rabbi Matondo on loan.
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Turkish outlet Hurriyet claim that Goztepe could be ready to hand Ince a lifeline, but current travel restrictions could impede the deal before the window slams shut at 11pm on February 1st.
It’d be unlikely move for Ince – at 28 he’s still plenty of footballing years ahead of him and this is a kind of move that most players consider later in their career.
He’s still a year-and-a-half left on his contract at Stoke. It makes sense for Stoke to part ways and get him off their wage bill but a Championship move – or loan – could be a better, more realistic option for Ince.
But Goztepe could yet move for Ince. What Stoke might charge for the winger is up for dispute – the club could be ready to take a cut-price deal to clear some wage space, or they could be looking to recoup the majority of the £10million they paid for him.
A difficult position for both Ince and Stoke to be in, but it looks likely that he’ll but in the transfer limelight throughout this month.
