‘I’m surprised by this’ – Stoke City knock back transfer approach from Premier League club: The verdict

Burnley had already reportedly seen a £4.5million for the 19-year-old rejected earlier in the January window, and according to this latest update, the Potters have now knocked back a £7.5million bid from the Turf Moor club as well.

It has previously been suggested that Stoke were holding out for a fee of up to £15million for Collins, who has three-and-a-half years remaining on his contract at The Bet365 Stadium.

So were Stoke right to reject that second, £7.5million bid for Collins from Burnley?

We put that question to some of our Football League World writers, and here, is a look at what they had to say.

Long-term, his future lies at centre-back, but he put in a top shift at right-back and looks mature beyond his years.

It’s very cliché, but he’s almost the perfect Burnley player, so I fully understand why they are pushing for this deal to be done.

Despite his impressive showings, I feel a bid of around £7-8m is about right for Collins at the moment and cannot see Burnley breaking the bank to get a deal over the line.

However, from a Stoke perspective, they know they’ve got a player here that can go to the top. That means rebuffing the bid makes sense to me at this stage.

Week-by-week I think we are seeing Collins’ stock rise.

Jacob Potter

I’m surprised by this decision. 

Chris Thorpe

I believe this is the right decision, yes.

It wouldn’t make a lot of sense to let one of your best defenders leave so close to the end of the window.

The Potters are better off waiting until the summer to entertain offers for Collins, and I believe if he was to head for pastures new, it would have happened a lot earlier in January.

He’s worth more than what was offered too and I think they could hold out for a fee upwards of £10million, so in short, he’s going nowhere.