Stoke City: Wouter Burger transfer saga will no doubt see Jon Walters backlash | OneFootball

Burger came close to a shock exit on Deadline Day, with many supporters calling sporting director Walters into question as a result

Stoke City did not sanction any permanent first-team exits in the January window, but that could have been very different on Deadline Day, as midfielder Wouter Burger saw a move to Danish side FC Midtjylland fall through after the Potters pulled the plug on the deal late on.

Stoke have struggled in the Championship so far this season, but recently-appointed boss Mark Robins has steadied the ship and will now have full focus on keeping his side in the second-tier as they face a battle at the wrong end of the table over the months to come.

Their transfer business over the last month has been relatively low-key and uneventful, and their Deadline Day was turning out to be as quiet as many had predicted, until late news emerged of the situation surrounding central midfielder Burger's potential exit.

The 23-year-old, who has been a key man for Stoke despite dips in form over the last 12 months, had reportedly all but agreed a move to four-time Superliga champions Midtjylland with just hours of the window to go, but the Potters' hierarchy had then seemingly stopped the deal at the last moment.

While the dust has now settled and Burger will hopefully not be too irked by what has happened, the saga has called sporting director Jon Walters' motives and experience into question even more than ever before, as he is already a divisive figure among Stoke supporters right now, and to treat a key player in this way will not sit right with many connected to the club.

Wouter Burger came surprisingly close to a shock Stoke City departure on Deadline Day

Burger joined Stoke for a reported fee of £4.3m in August 2023 amid an influx of signings from overseas, and enjoyed a successful first six months at the club, but has seen his performances drop off since midway through his debut campaign.

The 23-year-old has, however, still been a regular under four different head-coaches since his arrival in the Potteries, and so when Danish outlet Tipsbladet reported on Monday evening that Stoke and Midtjylland had agreed on a transfer, Burger had passed his medical in England and agreed personal terms with the Superliga side, it came as a real shock so late in the window.

However, despite the deal looking advanced and all but done, the Potters then apparently stopped negotiations and the Dutch youth international has remained at the bet365 Stadium because they were unable to find a replacement for him in Robins' side so late on.

Journalist Farzam Abolhosseini also claimed that the deal was 'effectively done,' so it does seem like a situation that Stoke had pushed for and caused, but then put an end to all by themselves not long after. It certainly seems unlikely that Burger will have wanted to force a move midway through the season after starting all but one of Robins' first six games in charge.

The 23-year-old is undoubtedly one of Stoke's main financial assets, given his talent and potential, but it also seems very doubtful whether Midtjylland would have offered a fee above that of what they paid for Burger just over 18 months ago.

Burger was reportedly of interest to Tottenham Hotspur last summer, as well as relegated Sheffield United, and two other unnamed sides from within the Premier League, and TEAMtalk then stated that a fee of around £12m was set to be enough to prise him away from the bet365 Stadium.

For it to have come to a situation like this, where he has effectively been messed around by the Potters so late in the winter window, is a real shame and a huge oversight by sporting director Walters and co. It is just another in an increasing line of mishandled situations since he took charge last year, that Stoke fans can, and will, use against their ex-player.

Jon Walters has work to do to preserve his Potters legacy

When a retired footballer returns back to a club they are loved at in different capacity after their playing days are over, it is always a gamble, because they may not be as successful in such a role compared to how they were as a player.

Frank Lampard is a notable recent example of how such a gamble can not pay off, as he is regarded as one of Chelsea's best ever players for his time at the club between 2001 and 2014, but then failed as their head-coach between 2019 and 2021 and was dismissed with the club in ninth place in the Premier League after disagreements with the board.

Walters' arrival at Stoke as an interim technical director a year ago this month was met with both excitement and relief that a familiar face was to be overseeing their day-to-day operations, and he turned out to be the right man to aid then-head-coach Steven Schumacher in his task of keeping the club in the Championship.

What many fans were skeptical over was him being offered the job of sporting director permanently in April, before the season had even finished, as his previous experience of being full-time in such a role was extended to just six months at Fleetwood Town and Waterford respectively.

While it is impossible to gauge just how much influence he has compared to owner John Coates, it is clear that he is a key member of the team making the big decisions at the bet365 Stadium, and those decisions have landed the Potters in trouble this season.

Head-coach Schumacher was undeservedly sacked in September in a shock move just five games into the league season, and replaced by rookie coach Narcis Pelach, which seemed like a doomed move as soon as it happened. Pelach won just three of his nineteen games in charge of the Potters, and was then shown the door himself in December, despite Walters being insistent that there was "no doubt" in his mind that the 36-year-old would succeed at the club.

Stoke supporters have grown increasingly frustrated at the uncertainty and lack of stability that seems to have surrounded the club over recent times, and while Robins is a smart appointment that the Potters are arguably lucky to have landed, if the worst was to happen and they did drop into League One soon, a lot of the blame would be focused on Walters.

This latest situation surrounding Burger, and the fact that the club seemed content to sell an important player so late in the window before they realised their mistake, is not set to help his cause at all. It has left a lot more questions than answers, with supporters still in the dark over why the situation panned out in the way it did.