Back in July, Michael O’Neill sounded for all the world like a man ready and willing to give Tom Ince the chance to finally live up to his £10 million price-tag at Stoke City.
“I believe there’s a top player in there,” the Potters boss told the Sentinel of a player who, not so long ago, was arguably the Championship’s most feared forward at Derby County.
“I’ve had a long conversation with Tom. He knows what he needs to do to get back to being the player he was when the club signed him.
“Tom came off a very good and consistent level at Derby in particular, where he was a regular goal scorer from a wide area, which you need in your team particularly in this system. He hasn’t possibly delivered that here.”
You can say that again.
Last season, as Stoke flirted with relegation before O’Neill’s arrival put the wild-eyed Nathan Jones out of his misery, Ince looked a fading shadow of the man who reached double figures in three successive Championship campaigns in Derby colours.
In 38 matches, the ninth-most expensive signing in Stoke’s history produced just three goals and two assists.
So Potters fans would have been forgiven for checking their calendars when TEAMtalk linked Ince with Celtic, Rangers and Premier League newcomers West Bromwich Albion a few weeks ago.
It wasn’t April 1, however – try September 30.
That initial interest didn’t turn into anything more substantial during the final few days of the transfer window however. Ironically enough, however, that has left Ince’s future more uncertain than ever.
The former Huddersfield and Hull flyer has featured in just one of Stoke’s nine Championship games this season, with just 13 minutes of football to his name.
The highly-talented Tyrese Campbell and newbie Jacob Brown have forced him further than ever down the pecking order.
With Celtic and Rangers fighting for silverware and pitting their wits against top European sides on a weekly basis, Ince must be wondering what might have been.
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