Stoke City are set to challenge fellow Championship outfit Bristol City to secure the services of Sinclair Armstrong.
The Queens Park Rangers striker is entering the final year of his contract at Loftus Road following an extension this summer and reports from Bristol Live have suggested that The Robins were set to win the battle for the Irish international. Other clubs from the Premier League and Championship were rumoured to be interested, and now Steven Schumacher’s side have made their presence known.
According to The Athletic, QPR were seeking to sign the 21-year-old to a new long-term deal but no progress was made towards securing the forward’s future. It is not the first time that Bristol have raided the London club for one of their players, with Rob Dickie moving to Ashton Gate last summer.
Darren Witcoop has revealed that Stoke City have emerged to compete for Armstrong but added the caveat that the Staffordshire side would need to sell players before being able to progress with the deal. He also confirmed that the Robins had submitted a bid for the striker.
Bristol City are facing a fight to keep Tommy Conway from moving to Scottish Premiership giants Rangers and Celtic and should he move on this summer then they are already lining up his replacement. Armstrong featured 39 times in the second division for Marti Cifuentes’ side but only started 19 of those with three goals scored.
Should Liam Manning make a move for the Irishman, he would become the second forward through the door this summer with the Fally Mayulu joining from Rapid Wien. Stoke have yet to make a move for a forward this window but did secure the signing of Niall Ennis from Blackburn Rovers in February.
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Both Stoke and Bristol finished midtable last season in the Championship, with The Potters finishing six points and places behind their transfer rivals in the 2023/24 season. Last season was also Stoke’s worst-ever finish since being relegated from the Premier League with a 17th-place finish.
Writer’s View
Sinclair Armstrong was not a regular starter under Marti Cifuentes so a move away from QPR may be tempting for him. Bristol City are surely ahead in both time and progress with a move for the striker so they would surely be favourites to get their man. Should Conway leave as a result of the transfer though they would be down to three strikers in Armstrong, Mayulu and former Huddersfield Town man Nakhi Wells. If that were the case then Liam Manning would probably look to get in at least one more senior forward.
Stoke City do not have one clear first-choice option, with Wesley, Tyrese Campbell and Ryan Mmaee all getting similar amounts of time. adding the 21-year-old into that mix may add more competition for that spot and get all four competing at their best. However coming from a place where he has struggled to get starts, Stoke may not be the best option for him to join this summer.
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