Stoke City boss Michael O'Neill has dropped a hint that the club could still be in line to make further transfers after bringing in Sam Surridge from Bournemouth, via the club's official website.

The Cherries frontman makes the move to the Bet365 Stadium on a four year deal and greatly strengthens Stoke's forward options for the season ahead.

And it appears that the Potters may not be done there, with Football League World exclusively reporting yesterday that the club are willing to wait patiently in order to secure the loan signing of Manchester City striker Liam Delap.

Now O'Neill has seemingly dropped a hint on the subject of the club conducting further transfer business as he stated the following:

"In terms of a permanent signing Sam has been our number one striking option that we identified. We've had to be very patient but it's great to get it done.

"He's a young player with all his best years ahead of him and he will be a fantastic addition to our squad."

Football League World has also been told that the Potters are fearing that City could still look to hold on to Delap for the season ahead, with the Premier League champions seemingly no closer to deciding where the striker's future lies.

Stoke City do however remain in the hunt for the teenager and will be hoping for some positive news over the coming weeks.

The Verdict

The signing of Surridge means that Stoke have filled the position that they wanted to fill but things are seemingly less clear on the situation involving Delap.

There is only so long that a club can wait before pulling the plug on a potential deal and I think it will be interesting to see how far their resolve can be tested.

Delap would add something different to what they already have but the longer this goes on, the more likely I think it is that Manchester City will hold onto him.

However if that does indeed happen, at least the Potters can be pleased that they have already supplemented their forward line with the addition of the Bournemouth striker.