Speculation had been rife for some time that Stoke defender, Ryan Shotton could be on his way to Turf Moor with the club then also later confirming their interest
He was linked with a permanent move during the transfer window but that never happened so attention moved to a possible move when the loan window opened recently.
The hope was that the signing would be completed in time for the game against Middlesbrough at Turf Moor on Saturday.
Like everything else it seems this summer, it was once again a tale of frustration with no new faces on show in the back four.
The defence were pummeled on Saturday against a rampant Boro attack and that shocker of a defeat clearly highlighted too the urgency of strengthening the back four as soon as possible
Most Clarets fans recently though have been resigned to losing out on Ryan Shotton. He clearly seems to be in Stoke’s plans for this season having also recently been named in their 25 man Premier League squad.
The 22 year old has played recently in both Stoke’s Premier League and Europa Cup campaigns and was also on the bench for Saturday’s game against Liverpool. He was an unused sub in their 1-0 home win.
Couple that with the fact he is also the long throw expert stand-in for Rory Delap, you would have to question why on earth Tony Pulis would want to release him.
Eddie Howe speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph also seems to be admitting he may have to look elsewhere to plug the gaps in our defence:
‘We`re still in the hunt for a couple, but there will come a time when we`re going to have to look elsewhere,”
“I`m still trying (to bring players in), absolutely. I think we need to.
“But as we`ve said all along it`s proving quite difficult.”
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