Stoke City have been linked with Jagiellonia Białystok’s Mateusz Skrzypczak, who currently plays for the Polish side as a centre-back. The Potters will join a host of clubs in battling it out for the 24-year-old’s signature.
Among the potential suitors, are Rapid Wien, Lech Poznan – who are Skrzypczak’s former side, and Widzew Lodz. Stoke have apparently joined this list following the defender’s 46-game season with Jagiellonia. The 24-year-old has also featured twice for the Polish national team, with his debut coming against Moldova in a 2-0 victory on 6th June.
European Calibre For The Potters?
In the Ekstraklasa last season, the young centre-back made 28 appearances and enjoyed healthy spells of European football in all three of UEFA’s big competitions. Throughout the qualification stages of the Champions League and Europa League, Skrzypczak played four times in the former and twice in the latter. Jagiellonia ultimately missed out on featuring in those competitions and had to settle for a place in the UEFA Conference League, which saw the Poland international play nine times, before his side were knocked out by eventual finalists Real Betis in a 3-1-aggregate quarter final.
Stoke, who finished 18th last season in the second tier, have confirmed the signing of Sorba Thomas from Huddersfield Town already this summer and are looking to add Skrzypczak as a defensive reinforcement. This is an especially necessary recruitment aim as the Potters released Michael Rose and saw Ashley Phillips return to Tottenham Hotspur following the end of the 20-year-old’s loan deal.
Reports Of Mounting Competition
Polish sports news outlet, Meczyki, has given the following account on the developing situation:
“Mateusz Skrzypczak has had a breakthrough season. As a Jagiellonia player, he was named defender of the year and was also called up to the national team. The 24-year-old could soon become the subject of an interesting transfer. This is facilitated by the relatively low release clause.”
On the excessive European competition Stoke would have to face:
“The stopper has already received an offer from Widzew, which is very attractive financially. However, the Łódź team must expect competition from Lech.
“We also cannot forget about the interest from foreign teams. According to our information, the leader of the “Pride of Podlasie” is on the radars of Stoke City and Rapid Vienna.”
Writer’s View
With an exciting future ahead of him, Skrzypczak would be an excellent pick-up for the Potters. The pull of a competitive Championship campaign may be intriguing for the 24-year-old, but European endeavours with top-flight league sides may outweigh Stoke’s appeal.
Experience in the Champions League qualification journey, despite featuring in both of UEFA’s other main competitions this season, would add an immense level of quality to Mark Robins’ side. A tremendous effort by the defender spear-headed Jagellonia’s impressive European run in the Conference League and inevitably earned the Stoke-linked centre-back a national team call-up.
