No fewer than eight members of Stoke's current squad have been told that they will not be part of the club's pre season trip to the Netherlands, Sky Sports have reported.

Moritz Bauer, Geoff Cameron, Mame Biram Diouf, Gianelli Imbula, Julien Ngoy, Erik Pieters, Kevin Wimmer and Bojan have all reportedly been told by manager Nathan Jones they will not be part of the club's first team plans for next season.

Of those players, four of them: Cameron, Wimmer, Imbula and Ngoy, all spent season long loans away from the club last year, while Pieters was sent on loan to Amiens in January, with the French side's President Bernard Joannin recently confirming that talks are ongoing about a permanent move for the left back.

Jones is currently overseeing an overhaul of his side, as they look to improve on their underwhelming return to the Championship last season which saw them finish 16th despite expectations of a promotion push.

The Potters have so far made six signings in the summer transfer window, with goalkeeper Adam Davies, defenders Liam Lindsay and Stephen Ward, midfielder Nick Powell and Jordan Cousins and striker Lee Gregory all making moves to the bet365 Stadium.

The verdict

This may seem harsh, but this is probably the right move from Stoke.

It has been no secret for some time now that Stoke have been planning a overhaul of their squad in the summer, which is understandable given that anti climatic return to the Championship last season.

For that to happen they will need to clear space in the squad and wage budget, as well as potentially raise funds for signings, and given the lack of impact this particular group had last season, you feel they were always going to be obvious candidates to be moved along.

This way, they have more time and opportunities to find themselves a club elsewhere that may give them the chances they need, something which is likely to suit both them and Stoke.