![\"Manager](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_SCFC-TRAINING-AND-TESTING-26JUN25.jpg\")
Manager Mark Robins talks to his squad as Stoke City return for pre-season training.(Image: Phil Greig 2025)<\/p>\nMark Robins outlines what Sorba Thomas, Maksym Talovierov and Divin Mubama will bring to Stoke City and why he is excitedManager Mark Robins talks to his squad as Stoke City return for pre-season training.(Image: Phil Greig 2025)<\/p>\n
Mark Robins has spoken of his excitement about Stoke City\u2019s<\/a> first three signings of the summer and the challenge ahead as he shapes his squad for the new season.<\/p>\n The Stoke manager has welcomed Wales winger Sorba Thomas from Huddersfield Town, Ukraine international centre-back Maksym Talovierov from Plymouth Argyle, and England youth striker Divin Mubama on loan from Manchester City, and says all three bring the right mix of quality, hunger and potential.<\/a><\/p>\n Robins, who was appointed on New Year’s Day<\/a> and secured Stoke’s status in the Championship, knows there are challenges in terms of this stage of a rolling financial fair play cycle but he is enjoying with sporting director Jon Walters and head of recruitment Ian Torrance to put together a team that can haul the club in the right direction.<\/p>\n It is an interesting window in this division, with plenty of off-field drama and developing narratives,<\/a> but he hopes that Stoke’s summer work will result in clear, visible progress.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the back of last season and the end of the season, or January to the end of the season, when we improved over time,” he said in a chat with Radio Stoke and the Sentinel.<\/p>\n “In a lot of the games some of the football was good and I was pleased with a lot of the elements of it but clearly I want things to be better, we all want things to be better moving forward, and that is something we have to do incrementally because of the circumstances that everyone knows about and we\u2019re not going to talk about.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s exciting. It\u2019s exciting because we have a challenge in front of us that is not inconsiderable. There are teams who are having a right go in terms of the spend. We know exactly where we sit in that but equally I know what we would like to do and what we are trying to do and what people would expect us to be doing, we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s good. I think the signings we\u2019ve made so far are really good signings for the club and will be good for us both in the here and now and into the future. They\u2019re good level, good quality. I\u2019m delighted to get them.<\/p>\n \u201cMaxi has come in from Plymouth, a Ukrainian international who wears his heart on his sleeve. He is a really, really talented player and can be as good as he wants to be really because he\u2019s got all the attributes. I\u2019m looking forward to working with him and it\u2019s started already. He\u2019s a really good athlete, as is Divin Mubama, who has come in from Man City on loan.<\/p>\n \u201cDivin is another one who I\u2019m really looking forward to seeing because he\u2019s got everything in his locker as well, a young player who hasn\u2019t had the exposure yet, that experience yet, but I\u2019m looking forward to seeing what he can do on this stage in a Stoke City shirt.<\/p>\n \u201cSorba was the first signing and we got it done early, which was great. He\u2019s going to be a great addition to us as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t to diminish the players we had last season because they were really good players, to be fair, and we know what we have to do and the work we have to do to improve tangibly, for everybody to see. That\u2019s the challenge and that\u2019s what excites everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n While you’re here, we have launched a new WhatsApp group to deliver the latest Stoke news directly to your phone. Click on this link,<\/a> select ‘Join Chat’ and you’re in. If for some reason you decide you no longer want to be in our community, you can leave at any time by clicking on the name at the top of your screen and clicking ‘Exit Group’, simple as that.<\/strong><\/p>\n