Stoke City, Swansea City and Oxford United target Max Johnston is wanted to stay at Sturm Graz this season, their sporting director has said.
Stoke City, Swansea City and Oxford United have all been linked with a move for the defender across this summer window.
Johnston, 20, made the move to Sturm Graz last summer and penned a four deal in Austria.
Last season he managed 20 league appearances from right back, getting one assist and impressing for his first year abroad.
The Middlesbrough-born Scottish U21 international has subsequently caught the eye of several second tier clubs this season, but Sturm Graz aren’t fond of the idea of losing him.
Sturm Graz sporting director Andreas Schicker has spoken on the interest. He said (via the Daily Record):
“We want to keep Max and we don’t want to let him go. We have three players we have told can leave the club – Szymon Wlodarczyk, Manprit Sarkaria and Amadou Dante. Max is not on that list.”
Johnston could probably do with having a sustained spell at one club as well and moving so soon after relocating abroad may not be the best move for his development.
However, the 20-year-old definitely has bags of potential behind him and one day it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him make the move to England and play at a good level.
Stoke City under Steven Schumacher looked to have turned a corner beating a strong Coventry City side on the opening day, but they were beaten comfortably by Watford last Saturday.
Elsewhere, Oxford United will be happy with their start to life in the second tier. They beat Norwich City on the opening day and fell to an injury time defeat to Coventry City on Friday night.
It will be interesting to see if any of these sides have enough to tempt Johnston to the Championship this summer, but the biggest hurdle may actually be lodging a bid that Sturm Graz accept despite their reluctance to lose their prospect so soon after bringing him in.
The window slams shut next Friday, but before then clubs have another fixture to deal with.
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