Stoke City in talks with Bournemouth to sign 28-year-old

Alex Neil is looking to reunite with Ben Pearson once again after taking him on loan to the Potters in the second half of last season

Stoke City are yet to make a real splash in the transfer window so far, adding just Enda Stevens on a free transfer from Sheffield United to their squad.

Stevens brings a wealth of experience to Alex Neil’s squad, but Potters fans are expecting a lot more when it comes to incomings in the summer months, especially after cashing in on Harry Souttar earlier in the year to Leicester City.

The club finances have been restructured at the Bet365 Stadium, giving the recruitment team greater room for manoeuvre when it comes to signing players and for coping with Financial Fair Play.

It has brought in a lot of new potential opportunities and Stoke’s squad is expected to look stronger than it did 12 months ago at the end of the transfer window, and they are now said to be in talks to bring one of their loanees from last season back to the club.

According to Mark McAdam of Sky Sports, Stoke are in talks to re-sign Ben Pearson from AFC Bournemouth, having spent the second half of last season in Staffordshire on a loan deal.

It is not clear as to whether Stoke are pushing for another loan move or a permanent switch, but Pearson’s time at the Cherries looks to be up following their survival in the Premier League and the depth they have in the middle of the park.

How did Ben Pearson perform for Stoke last season

Signing very late in the day on transfer deadline day, Pearson didn’t arrive at Stoke fully-fit and had to miss the first couple of games, but he featured 14 times for the Potters and made a major impression.

Sitting in-front of the defence, Pearson somewhat released the shackles from the likes of Josh Laurent and Will Smallbone who played in-front of him, allowing them more creativity as he did the dirty work in the holding midfield role.

As ever though, Pearson’s discipline did come into question as he was booked six times in his 14 outings for the club, and one of those matches saw him red carded in the final minutes against West Brom for throwing a ball at Darnell Furlong as he believed the right-back to be time-wasting.

Nevertheless, Pearson offered Stoke something in midfield that they did not previously have, and that is why Alex Neil is trying to re-unite with the 28-year-old once more.

What is Ben Pearson’s situation at Bournemouth?

Pearson arrived at the Vitality Stadium in January 2021, signing a three-and-a-half year contract with the club.

He featured just seven times for the Cherries in the Premier League last season but he did come off the bench in their final two matches before the January transfer window slammed shut, which is when he was allowed to move on to Stoke.

With less than 12 months remaining on his contract, it is expected that Pearson will be allowed to leave permanently for the right price, and Stoke are set to take advantage of that to add him to their squad for the 2023-24 season and beyond.