It was important for Steven Schumacher and Stoke City to get three key signings……

It was important for Steven Schumacher and Stoke City to get three key signings in the building from Day One of pre-season and, very much unlike last summer, the core of the squad has been in place for the head coach to hammer home exactly what he will expect and demand over the long Championship campaign.

Now he is two-and-a-half weeks into the build-up and has been able to get some important work done on and off the training pitch. But there is still plenty remaining on his to-do list before the first league games against Coventry City on August 10 – and even more before transfer deadline day on August 30.

Transfers and rumours are taking up a lot of column inches while there are also young players staking claims, including a couple with decisions looming about their immediate futures. There is interest in players who could leave too. Plenty to go at then as we take a look at what is in the Schumacher in-tray…

Embedding the Schumacher way
There was a clip from Schumacher at the end of a training session this week telling players that he wants them to be the best team with the ball in the Championship this season, but also the hardest to play against. The boss was asked on Radio Stoke on Tuesday night if that was the Schumacher blueprint in a nutshell – and if Stoke can get there this season?

“Absolutely,” said Schumacher. “That is the way I want to play. I want to be an exciting attacking football team. Our fans pay good money to come and watch and I want them to enjoy what they see, but I think also – and this is dead important – that this is what this club was renowned for: hard work, industrious people who are willing to fight for the shirt.

“I said it when I first became manager; I don’t want this to be an easy place to come and play. I don’t want any opponent to come off the pitch on a Saturday thinking they’d had an easy victory. If anyone is going to get anything from us this year then it’s going to be hard fought. It’s what our fans deserve and what should be in the DNA of this club, and it’s what I’m trying to enforce.”

Numbers game and focus on big ticket transfers
There are pretty much two senior players for each position at the moment, which is the ideal squad size outlined by Schumacher and Jon Walters.

That means Stoke are not in a rush for numbers like last year, when the idea of a major reset was so infatuating but the reality was too much to oversee smoothly. This time, they can focus their minds on the positions that really need addressing, particularly as three key roles – goalkeeper, centre-half and left-back – were dealt with in the close season.

But outs will be almost as important as ins to keep the right balance and make sure that most of the budget is on the pitch rather than in the stands.

It is clear that a quick number 9 is top of the agenda, and it would be no surprise if Stoke were staying alert to another forward who could possibly be comfortable in the middle and out wide; another centre-half perhaps depending on the progress of Jaden Dixon and whether he might need a loan of his own; and a central midfielder or two depending on what happens with Josh Laurent, Lewis Baker and Daniel Johnson.

There are always expected and unexpected complications that add to the drama, and this summer there will be none more so than if interest builds in Bae Junho. But it seems like Stoke are in a far better position to be able to concentrate on trying to bring in three or four players who can raise the bar rather than trying to fill a changing room.

Loan interest in youngsters
A question for Schumacher came in about the opportunities for teenagers like Emre Tezgel and Sol Sidibe, and whether or not he would keep them close or send them out on loan as the next stage of their development.

He said: “I think there’s a real possibility we’re going to see more of them. All the young players who have been with us for the first couple of weeks of pre-season have been absolutely incredible. They’ve been so consistent. We’ve had Jaden Dixon train with us every day, Sol Sidibe, Emre Tezgel, Nathan Lowe. They’ve been outstanding. We’ve had some others step up from the 21s too, from Ryan (Shawcross)’s team, and I think it’s dead important that we do try to promote our own players, get them into the first team as often as possible, and if we feel as if there isn’t a pathway immediately that they go out on loan. They need to play men’s football.

“I think there is a place for under-21s football, especially at the level we play, but it doesn’t replace men’s football. Emre went out on loan to MK Dons and he’s come back and looks a completely different player. The plan might be for Nathan to go and get some senior football. He had loads of options in January to go and play some senior football but we wanted to keep him with us because we were short of strikers ourselves.

“There will be a mixture. Some will go out on loan and some will feature in the first team, no doubt.”

Bae Junho speculation
There wasn’t much chance that we were going to get through the summer without reports emerging of interest in Bae Junho. He is only 20 but stands out like a sore thumb at this level and, without wanting to build pressure too much, there is hope he is on the verge of something special. He told the Korean press that he wants to reach double figures for goals this season, and it will be that ability to change games in tangible ways that is the big final piece of the jigsaw.

Feyenoord are the first big club to be linked and it wouldn’t be a surprise if there were more. There may even be bids that would tempt any team that has to live with the EFL’s Financial Fair Play rules. But there will be a consensus inside Clayton Wood that his value will sky rocket if he has the kind of season next term that is expected. He is the kind of player who will lift everybody around him, teammates and supporters.

If he is happy – and he certainly looks happy – it would make sense from a football and business sense to keep him at the moment barring anything ridiculous.

Ticking things off
All that work was important in May and June while players were on the beaches, making sure that Schumacher’s backroom team was in place and ready for when they reported for duty.

Chris Cohen joined as assistant head coach and Alex Morris stepped up from the under-21s on a permanent basis. Peter Cavanagh has assumed responsibility for work on set pieces.