{"id":964612,"date":"2026-05-16T15:57:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T15:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/964612\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T15:57:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T15:57:17","slug":"stoke-city-must-take-advantage-of-birmingham-city-and-sign-defender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/964612\/","title":{"rendered":"Stoke City must take advantage of Birmingham City and sign defender"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another huge summer awaits Stoke City and Mark Robins, with the Potters aiming to finally end their curse of ten straight bottom-half finishes in a row, as they should be looking to take advantage of Birmingham City’s contract stall.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stoke<\/a>, at one stage, looked like a sure-fire bet for a top-half finish this campaign, with the Potters challenging Coventry City and Middlesbrough for a place in the top two during the early stages of the season.<\/p>\n

Indeed, only Coventry and Boro have spent more time in the top two in the Championship than Stoke across the year, so their 17th-place finish is a testament to just how stark their fall-off has been.<\/p>\n

Only Sheffield Wednesday picked up fewer points than Stoke across the last 30 games of the campaign, as the Potters were in relegation form for the entirety of the second half of the year.<\/p>\n

Despite this, Mark Robins’ place in the bet365 Stadium dugout hasn’t come under as much scrutiny as it possibly should have done, with the former Coventry City boss looking likely to lead them into next season.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the next campaign, the 56-year-old should be looking to reunite with a former defender in the Potteries that he previously worked with at Coventry and take advantage of his current Birmingham City situation.<\/p>\n

Stoke City should plot a move for Jonathan Panzo amid Birmingham City’s contract situation<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Jonathan<\/p>\n

With Ashley Phillips set to return to Tottenham Hotspur following the end of his second successive loan with Stoke<\/a>, the Potters will almost certainly be targeting defensive reinforcements this summer.<\/p>\n

Maksym Talovierov, Bosun Lawal, Ben Wilmot, and Ben Gibson have each suffered spells out injured across the season, as has right-back Junior Tchamadeu, with each a contributing factor in the Potters’ backslide in form.<\/p>\n

Robins must be praying for better luck when it comes to injuries next year, but equally must ensure his side is better prepared for this unfortunate scenario.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Panzo joined Birmingham City in January on a permanent deal until the end of the season from Portuguese side Rio Ave, and made nine appearances for the Blues across all competitions, providing depth for the likes of Christoph Klarer, Phil Neumann, and Jack Robinson.<\/p>\n

However, with his deal set to expire at the end of next month and yet to sign an extension, the 25-year-old Chelsea academy graduate could be available to pick up on a free transfer imminently, and Stoke should swoop in.<\/p>\n

Panzo has rarely settled anywhere for too long, spending time with Monaco, Cercle Brugge, and Dijon before playing a bit part role in Nottingham Forest’s promotion to the Premier League in 2022.<\/p>\n

He’d then join Coventry City shortly after, where he would make 32 appearances across all competitions under current Stoke<\/a> boss Robins, and the 56-year-old could well use his prior connections with the Englishman to bring him to the Potteries.<\/p>\n

Spells with Cardiff City and Standard Liege preceded his time in Portugal, and with his deal at Birmingham now due to expire, should Chris Davies’ side not offer him fresh terms, he could be on the move again soon.<\/p>\n

The Potters should capitalise on this opportunity, as with Robins knowing exactly what Panzo is about, it’s a deal that makes complete sense.<\/p>\n

Should Stoke look to sign Jonathan Panzo this summer if he is to depart Birmingham, or should the Potters look elsewhere? Share your thoughts below!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark Robins must ensure a strong window at Stoke City and should kickstart it with the capture of Jonathan Panzo<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Mark<\/p>\n

With Stoke<\/a> having been in an almost constant state of regression and then stagnation for the past decade, it looked certain that this season was the one to breed new life into the club.<\/p>\n

However, with yet another year of disappointment ruining those hopes, this upcoming summer is huge for Robins and his future in the Potteries.<\/p>\n

Stoke will be desperate for a positive year after a decade of disappointment, and a strong window will ensure they have every chance of doing do next time around, and should look to begin this window with the free addition of Panzo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Another huge summer awaits Stoke City and Mark Robins, with the Potters aiming to finally end their curse…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":964613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-964612","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116585081435607494","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=964612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/964613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=964612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=964612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=964612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}