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Key checklist in Stoke City transfer hunt for elusive striker

It feels like a difficult summer to be shopping for a centre-forward in the Championship. Perhaps every summer is difficult but this one is packed with clubs who seem to all be fighting over a small list of potential targets.

The list is small enough for those targets to come with a premium price but the financial constraints are so tight that it’s doubly difficult for suitors to commit. It’s not so much a balancing act as a tightrope walk, with plenty of spinning plates to deal with along the way.

Stoke City are in a position when they have clarity in what they want, which is a good starting point. They are not short of numbers but they want a quick and strong senior number 9 to come in to lead the line while Emre Tezgel and Nathan Lowe continue their development.

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Ryan Mmaee will be at the club for a second season, having had a stop-start first 12 months. Perhaps an injury free pre-season would have meant speculation about a move away but he’s on the road back now and has been saying the right things and will get another chance to prove himself in this division.

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Steven Schumacher has got 23 players onto the pitch in Stoke’s first three friendlies of pre-season as he continues to weigh up his squad and options, what departments are looking strong, who is coming into his thoughts and who might be short of game time over the course of the next few months.

It has been interesting to see Mehdi Leris be used at right-back, Lynden Gooch