This post is a part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which offers our Fan Pundits their personal thoughts on teams, players, managers, breaking news, possible signings, and more.

League of Football Even if the Potters remain in the Championship, Wouter Burger, the team’s outstanding midfielder, is expected to depart this summer, according to a Stoke City fan commentator. In the January transfer window, Burger was on the verge of joining FC Midtjylland of Denmark.

After joining Stoke from FC Basel in 2023, Burger is nearing the completion of his second season there and has, thus far, been among the team’s top players.

But if the Potters’ performance in the upcoming games does not improve, they risk being demoted to League One, where they have battled this season in the second division.

Burger, who nearly quit the team at the beginning of the season to join Midtjylland, would undoubtedly go if they were to fail, however he might still leave even if Mark Robins is able to lead Stoke to safety.

“I expect there will be interest” – Stoke City summer transfer claim made on Wouter Burger

During a wave of foreign signings, Burger left Basel for Stoke in August 2023 for a reported £4.3 million.

After a strong first half of the season, he saw a period of decline in performance before resuming his previous level of play in the middle of the current campaign.

Many fans were surprised when it was announced on the final day of the winter window that he was nearing a move to four-time Danish champions Midtjylland. Stoke’s hierarchy then put a stop to the move since they couldn’t identify a replacement for him in Robins’ team at such a late stage, even though the transaction appeared to be advanced and almost final.

Since joining the team after his unsuccessful transfer attempt, Burger has probably been playing some of the best football and has continued to impress over the past few months.

“Are you anticipating the Wouter Burger transfer saga that surfaced with Midtjylland at the end of the January transfer window to possibly reignite in the summer with other clubs coming in?” we asked Daniel Buxton, our Potters fan analyst. Is now the right time to cash in?

“I expect there will be interest in (Wouter Burger) in the summer. We interviewed him for our podcast last season in May, and he very clearly is a man who has got his career mapped out in his head,” Buxton told FLW.

“He said to us that he came to Stoke to prove to people that he could handle the physicality of the English leagues. He said that, when scouts came to watch him, the feedback he got was that that was why clubs hadn’t taken the plunge on him.

“I imagine there will be interest. I imagine that he thinks that two years is enough to then, maybe, start looking at moving on. If we get relegated to League One, that will be without any doubt, he will be gone. If we stay in the Championship, then there is a small hope that we can keep him, but I wouldn’t be putting any money on it, to put it that way.

“I would like to keep him. I don’t think any Stoke fans are willing him to leave at all. I do feel that, maybe with a settled side and Mark Robins in charge for a full pre-season, his form may even increase to a level where we can get a good fee for him.

“He has had a splintered season. Obviously not helped by all the off-field stuff that has been going on with the changes of managers, plus injuries.

“We probably won’t get what he is actually worth this summer, so I’d like to keep him for another 12 months, so then we get a good deal and he gets the best move as well.”

Stoke will find it hard to keep hold of Burger this summer regardless of league status

Even though the events surrounding Burger’s Stoke future were resolved in the January window and he doesn’t appear to have been particularly annoyed by the circumstances, it’s reasonable to assume that he might be looking to leave again by the time the summer window arrives, even if Stoke escapes relegation this season.

He is currently a top Championship midfielder at the age of 24, and he would undoubtedly flourish in a better squad that could give him more room and time to influence the game. He would be a tremendous loss to the team, which makes sense given that he has been a major driver behind everything Stoke has done well since Robins was hired in January.

It wouldn’t be shocking to see Burger push for a move in the summer window regardless of the circumstances, especially since he recently told StokeonTrentLive that he was “disappointed” about not being able to join Midtjylland in January. If the Potters do drop, they will have little choice but to sell him in the summer.

Since Burger’s departure would significantly impact the type of compensation Stoke may receive for his services, Robins and the club’s management must now hope that they can end the campaign on a high note with survival secured and Burger performing well.