Top Stories

BREAKING- Shea completes Stoke City transfer

By IVES GALARCEP

Brek Shea has completed his transfer move to Stoke City, finalizing an approximately $4 million transfer after being granted a work permit on Thursday, sources confirmed to SBI on Thursday.

(UPDATE-Shea’s agency has confirmed the work permit approval, announcing it via Twitter.)

Shea’s deal was completed after he won his work permit appeal, sealing a move to join the Potters, which also count Americans Geoff Cameron and Maurice Edu on their books.

Shea passed his physical on Wednesday, clearing the way for the completion of the move.

The 23-year-old winger is being brought in by Stoke City to help the club’s lack of wing midfield options.

What do you think of the move? Excited to see Shea join the Potters or do you not like the fit? See him struggling for playing time, or do you think he’ll be a breakout star for Stoke?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. People sometimes complain that MLS can’t hold on to young talent in these cases, but I think it is a great thing to be able to point out to young prospects that MLS can be a direct stepping stone to the EPL. Players like Howard, Dempsey, and now Holden, Cameron, and Shea have paved the way. I think this will help to keep the Marcus Tracys and Charlie Davies of the future in MLS rather than Norwegian leagues after starring in college.

    Reply
    • MLS has some failures in developing some youth talents from youth USNTs like: coaches playing players out postions, bench-rust, plain bad team management etc… Also, Viking leagues help Davies, Bedoya, and others develop their careers and talent.

      Reply
      • Every league has failures. The only thing a league can do is offer a platform for young players to test themselves and learn. Most won’t make it, some will contribute, and only a select few will have the desire, luck, and ability to keep improving like Dempsey.

  2. Good to see MLS teams get some money. I always thought MLS should model it’s after Brazilian, Dutch or French l;leagues.

    Reply
  3. Anybody have a running total of transfers earned by MLS over the past, say 5 years?
    Jozy- $10 M, Edu $5 M, Brek $4 M, Cameron $ M…..others?

    Reply
  4. I think Pulis is giving hints to the fans curious about how he will be used, by mentioning Shea has pace and a left foot. Sounds like he is ticketed for left wing. Also reading between the lines, calling him an exciting player who could be good and saying he has the tools for success could be taken as acknowledging a perceived gap between performance and potential.

    Reply
    • I don’t think there was ever any question that Brek would be ticketed for duty at LM/LW, do you? All the talk about him at LB was always rubbish, IMO.

      Reply
  5. Does anyone have a link to how MLS and the club benefit from the transfer. Is there a formula to how the fee gets apportioned out?

    Reply
  6. I guess there are reports coming out that Shea was most impressive in Stoke’s training today.

    Does he see some minutes this weekend?

    Reply
      • Yeah it’s up to Pulis.That being said reports say he only started training two weeks ago after not playing in 3 months.You do the math.No way he plays at all this weekend at least not for 2 weeks.

    • Training Fitness <<< Match Fitness. Even if he is somehow able to mesh with his new teamates in 48 hours, I highly doubt he will see the pitch for a minute within the next week or two. Playing Shea so soon would say more about Stoke's woeful attack than Shea's supposed sharpness.

      Reply
      • Match fitness and training fitness are different. But if he looked good in training, then the only way to get match fit is to play matches. So don’t be too surprised if he gets on as a late sub in upcoming games. He’ll benefit more from game experience than training for a long time.

      • I certainly hope you were being sarcastic. He isn’t going anywhere, but any MLS team would love to have him. He scored twenty-seven goals in thirty-two games last year and was the MVP last year.

    • If he was 26 or 27, or if he was on a free? Sure, he’d have interest. But now? Nope, and for good reason. It’s not that he couldn’t help teams in other leagues, it’s more that he’s 30 years old and he has 2 years left on his deal with MLS. There’s no way MLS is going to let it’s top scorer and MVP walk for cheap, so there’d be a pretty hefty transfer fee involved and I just don’t see teams lining up to pay for a 30 year old guy who’s spent his entire career in MLS, 27 goals last season or not.

      Reply
  7. I think he’ll break out. I think he is very talented but Dallas has not been a great place for him to develop and perhaps he lacked motivation. I think on a bigger stage he’ll rise to the challenge.

    Reply
  8. In principle, unlike Edu, he is a kind of player they need. He will get some playing time, how well he performs will determine how much.

    Reply
    • He’s prob a replacement for when Jozy moves in the summer.Or he could be brought in to play wing.Maybe alongside Jozy.Dont think Arron Johansson would bump Jozy from the starting 11.

      Reply
      • WHEN Jozy moves? I admit I’m not following that closely, but how long is his contract? Or are you saying that AZ won’t be able to keep the first or second leading Eredivisie scorer on its roster?
        ***
        As for Shea, I don’t rate him highly, but this is a great development for the USMNT. And for MLS in the future.

      • AZ will def not be able to keep a top Eredevise scorer on their books.It happens all the time.He will go to a bigger league.Its the nature of the league

      • No, I get it. I thought by saying “when” you had some definitive information. I agree with you completely.

      • That was always the plan.

        AZ bought Jozy cheap and developed him to sell for a profit

        It is what they do and will do with Johannson.

  9. Damn dont none of our really young Yanks head to Holland. Jozy is more of a veteran so to speak. Agudelo needs a move to an Ajax or Feyernoord if u ask me

    Reply
  10. Of course Shea is gonna get some minutes. Have you seen how bad Stoke’s Left Midfielders are?? If Shea can play as good as he did against Mexico, then that spot is his.

    Reply
    • stoked to he’s moving. I think he’ll make an impact after a short while but his size, athleticism and ball skill got him here and will get him on the field for Stoke. They’ll need to improve to make his move to EPL a permanent one like Dempsey has done.

      Reply
  11. Brilliant! If he can adapt quickly, this could be a fantastic move and make The United Stokes of America a must watch team on Saturdays.

    Reply
  12. He may need time coming off an injury, adjusting to a new league, team and system. But I have a feeling this will work out, we may not see Shea at his best until next season or at least after a month or so. Good luck to him, he needs to step it up and I believe he will. Good luck Shea.

    Reply
    • agreed. I think its a great move for him long term but I wouldn’t expect anything more than a few sub appearances this spring. He is still in pre-season form, coming off a bad year, still recovering from an injury and now with a new team; hope everyone doesn’t go crazy when he isnt contributing right away..

      over the summer he should be ready to challenge for a starting spot with the USNT and with Stoke for the fall.

      Reply
  13. This is good. Hopefully, he will learn from Etherington, who has had a nice career with a similar skill set but arguably less talent than Shea.

    Reply
  14. Great move for him in that he will have a chance to play. Stoke is notorious for lack of offensive firepower. He will get his chances. Now what he does with them, we don’t know…

    Reply
      • Shea is not even close to a central attacking midfielder, especially in the EPL where you have to make decisions before even getting the ball.

        I think the only major complaint I’ve had about Shea is that he seems to react slowly. I hope the next few months consist of him learning how to make intelligent snap judgments and how to commit himself professionally.

        Unfortunately, Stoke is not the place for a winger – I would much rather see him at a Villa or Fulham. However, he will now test himself in a brutal league and in a team with a strong foundation.

        I’m excited, but I think we fans should tailor our expectations. Let him find his feet. He didn’t have the greatest season last year. It’ll take time.

Leave a Comment