Stoke City ‘Intend To Use’ Star Against Birmingham City As They Close In On Capture
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Stoke City ‘intend to use’ incoming signing Milan Smit in Saturday’s Championship game away at Birmingham City.
The Potters have been in the process of ironing out a deal to sign striker Smit from Dutch outfit Go Ahead Eagles and had largely agreed terms for the transfer on Wednesday.
Even so, with minor details to resolve, Smit was still required to travel with Go Ahead Eagles to Nice for the Dutch side’s European clash on Thursday, even though he was not expected to play.
Now Stoke have completed the final pieces with Go Ahead Eagles such that Smit has been given permission to travel to England to undergo a medical.
A four-and-a-half year contract is on the table for the 22-year-old to sign if he passes his medical and, according to Dutch daily De Telegraaf, Stoke ‘intend to use’ Smit in this weekend’s game at Birmingham.
The Potters want to push the deal through quickly and will be hoping he can come through the medical tests without an issue.
Stoke will be paying a fee of €5.5m to Go Ahead Eagles, which will be a record transfer sale for the Dutch side.
They will though have to let Smit’s former club Cambuur pocket some of the amount due to a sell-on clause negotiated when they signed him.
In total, Cambuur are expected to make around €1m from Smit’s move to Stoke.
Smit has found the back of the net six times in 19 Eredivisie outings for Go Ahead Eagles this season, netting against big boys PSV Eindhoven and Ajax.
On the European stage the 22-year-old has struck three times in six Europa League matches, with a brace against Panathinaikos in Greece and a goal at home against Lyon.
Now Smit will look to quickly adapt to life in the Championship with Stoke, who continue to have promotion ambitions this season under boss Mark Robins.
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