The Telegraph’s Midlands football reporter John Percy highlighted in May that Stoke had identified Jake Clarke-Salter as their top target for the summer transfer window, especially with Ben Wilmot and Michael Rose as their only senior centre-back options under contract at the time.
Percy indicated that Clarke-Salter’s price tag was expected to range between £5-7 million, with interest also coming from several Premier League clubs. However, discussions around Clarke-Salter to Stoke quieted down thereafter, and the Potters shifted their focus when 31-year-old Ben Gibson joined on a free transfer after leaving Norwich City.
Recent reports from Football Insider revealed that it will now cost £10 million to secure Clarke-Salter’s services from QPR in the coming months, with Premier League side Wolves eyeing him as a replacement for Max Kilman. Despite Stoke’s financial backing from the Coates family, owners of bet365, this fee is deemed too high for them or any lower-half Championship club to justify spending on a single player. Therefore, Stoke’s decision to opt for the free signing of Gibson appears increasingly astute in hindsight.