Stoke opted to splash out on Kevin Wimmer this summer, seemingly leaving little room in the budget for a much-needed goalscorer.
Stoke City are perennially slow starters to the Premier League season and so it might be a little early to judge their campaign.
However, well into October, we can at least assess how Mark Hughes’ men fared in the transfer market – and their business looks a little baffling.
Darren Fletcher has boosted the middle of midfield and Maxim Choupo-Moting and Jese Rodriguez offer exciting attacking talent, even if they are not recognised centre forwards.
And that’s where the problem is. Stoke, despite signing three notable centre backs, did not bring in a proven striker.
To make matters worse, the Potters have hardly looked tight at the back; Kevin Wimmer – an £18million signing, per the BBC – has been particularly shoddy.
That Stoke were willing to splash out on Wimmer – when they already had Ryan Shawcross, Geoff Cameron, Kurt Zouma and Bruno Martins-Indi – was bizarre, even before taking his performances into account.
One display away at Newcastle United saw him almost single-handedly contribute to Stoke’s demise with a series of errors.
The money spent on the former Tottenham Hotspur man surely would have been put to better use in the investment of a prolific forward.
Stoke’s top scorers in each season since 2012 have been Peter Crouch, who remains at the club in a depressingly vital role, Mame Biram Diouf, now a right-back, and the pair of Jon Walters and Marko Arnautovic – who both departed this summer.
As Hughes again relies on 36-year-old Crouch, amid Saido Berahino’s ongoing struggles, questions must be asked as to why there is no viable alternative.
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