AZ Alkmaar are interested in making Stoke City defender Bruno Martins Indi’s loan move to the club a permanent one in the summer transfer window, according to their head coach Pascal Jansen.

Martins Indi has spent the entire season with Alkmaar, with Michael O’Neill having allowed him to leave the Bet365 Stadium. The defender has been a reliable performer for the Dutch club this campaign and managed to make 22 appearances in the Eredivisie, scoring one goal and also helping the club record six clean sheets.

O’Neill has recently spoken about the need for Stoke to continue to trim their wage bill of higher earners so that they can get into a position where they can add more players to the squad. Martins Indi has been a popular figure for the Potters during his time at the club. However, the time might be right for him to leave in the summer if a chance for a permanent switch arises.

Speaking to Voetbal International, Alkmaar boss Jansen suggested that he would be keen for the club to try and sign the defender on a permanent basis in the summer with him having been impressed with the qualities that Martins Indi has brought to his side.

He said: “If it is up to me, they will stay at AZ, Jordy (Clasie) has proved enormously valuable to us. Bruno also shows how much value he has for the team. We will see where it will end.”

The verdict

Martins Indi always have his all for the Potters and was a very versatile and dependable defender at both centre-back and left-back at times throughout his time at the Bet365 Stadium. Some supporters will feel he certainly still has something to offer them in the long-term and maybe should be kept on, but it does feel the time is right for him to leave this summer.

O’Neill feels like the Potters can cope without the defender having allowed him to leave on loan this term, and he needs to try and trim the wage bill before he can bring in a lot of players to the squad that he maybe wants. Therefore, it makes sense if Alkmaar want to do a permanent deal for Martins Indi, Stoke allow that to go through.

The defender will be one of the players that escape the club’s decline without having seen his reputation be damaged too much. That is more down to his attitude than anything else, certainly out of the higher-earners that could move on this summer, he will be amongst the most missed by supporters.