Stoke City manager Michael O’Neill has suggested that the Potters have not made any progress in their attempts to secure the loan signings of Manchester City’s Liam Delap and Manchester United’s James Garner.

The Potters are still in the market for a new forward before the transfer window closes. It has been widely reported that they are interested in sealing a move for Delap from Manchester City to bolster their strike force.

While it has even been suggested recently that a move for him could even be close to being completed. However, he has now suffered an injury that might impact the timescale for any transfer.

That comes despite them having already managed to bring in Sam Surridge from Championship rivals Bournemouth.

The Potters are also thought to be targeting a new midfield addition to their squad over the next few weeks and that have now been linked with a potential move for West Brom’s Romaine Sawyers.

While according to reports they are also in the hunt with the likes of Nottingham Forest, Swansea City and Sheffield United to secure a loan agreement with Manchester United for Garner.

Speaking to the Stoke Sentinel, O’Neill has now revealed that while Stoke are interested in both Delap and Garner they have not made any progress with regards to potential deals for either player. He did say though that they will continue to be ready to try and convince their parent clubs that the Potters is the best place for their development.

He said: “They’re two very coveted young players which I think a lot of clubs in Championship would have ideally on their wish list.

“There are no strong developments on that.

“As I’ve said previously, young players like that probably get their best opportunity at this stage to be around the first-team squad and then as the window progresses and we get closer to deadline, then the options for those players for those players to possibly come out on loan becomes more realistic.

“The key for us is to be in the position so that if options like that to become available then we are can try to present to them that Stoke is a real good option for them.”

The verdict

Signing both Delap and Garner would be incredible work from the Potters but you would doubt whether they would be able to pull off the signings of both of those before the window closes. It seems that they have been very much in the race for Delap right the way through the summer up until now and they will be hoping Manchester City do see them as the best place for him.

Delap would be an excellent signing for the Potters and it show a lot of ambition from them if they were able to convince Manchester City to lend them one of their most promising forward talents for the campaign.

Garner appears to be a player that it is going to be more difficult to secure for Stoke, that is because there is interest from sides that might appear to be better placed to mount a promotion challenge in the new season. Having said that, the midfielder would be guaranteed to be a crucial player under O’Neill and that might help them to convince United that they are the right place for him.