What Ward-Prowse, Hasenhuttl and others have said about Will Smallbone ahead of Stoke City transfer

Stoke City are hoping to unveil Southampton midfielder Will Smallbone their next summer signing, possibly in time to be involved in the final friendly of the summer this weekend against Hearts.

The 22-year-old has been highly rated as he bas come through the ranks at Southampton, having been spotted playing in his home town of Basingstoke as a boy. He made his first team debut in 2020 and although his progress was derailed by an anterior cruciate ligament in 2021, he was back playing last season and is now hoping for regular game time.

He caught the eye with his performances for Republic of Ireland under-21s at the start of the summer and has his creativity on the ball has been praised through pre-season at club level.

Here is what coaches and teammates have said about what Stoke fans should expect.

The Ireland manager said at a press conference earlier this summer: “I must say he’s had a tough time, Will. An unfortunate cruciate ligament injury and one or two other injuries and so forth…

“But I’d love to see him get a run of games because he definitely was exceptional (in a 3-0 win for Ireland u21s vs Bosnia and Herzegovina) and it was great to see that.

“He definitely has a future with the senior international team you would feel, if he continues in that vein of form.”

Ireland’s under-21s coach told the42: “He’s another player, he has fantastic ability, he’s an athlete. What we do need to see from Will next season is if he can get a run of games at Southampton or a Championship club, his name has been bandied about.

“But the more we see of Will, the better he gets because he’s a real talent.”

Crawford was asked if he’ll be able to keep Smallbone in his group much longer and added: “I doubt it. Because that’s how much