Chris Brunt could reunite with Michael O’Neill this summer with Stoke City in talks to sign the West Bromwich Albion legend on a free transfer, according to the Express and Star.
After 13 years and over 400 games, a Baggies hero is bidding farewell to the club he joined as a fresh-faced winger all the way back in 2007.
Brunt’s contract is due to expire at the end of the current campaign and there was hardly a dry eye in the house when it was announced last week that the 35-year-old was set to ride off into the sunset.
Though just because Brunt is finished at West Brom, that does not mean the long-serving captain does not have a few miles left in the tank.
According to the Express and Star, former Baggies boss Tony Mowbray would love to work with the Northern Ireland international again at Blackburn Rovers – perhaps inspired by the huge impact fellow veteran Stewart Downing has made at Ewood Park.
As it stands, however, the smart money is on Brunt sealing a move to Stoke instead.
The 65-cap international knows Potters boss O’Neill well from his time in charge of Northern Ireland.
And, after missing out on Brunt during the January transfer window, a summer move to the Potteries is now edging closer.
“At times maybe Chris has been unfairly criticised for playing for Northern Ireland. But certainly in the last couple of years he has been excellent when we have played him in that position at left-back and I can’t remember a bad game he has had for us,” O’Neill told the Independent of Brunt back in 2016.
“He has been captain of his club and he is one of those players who is easy to manage.”
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