Stoke City are keen on signing Brighton & Hove Albion centre-back Matt Clarke, Stoke-on-Trent Live has revealed. Clarke, 25, spent last season on loan with West Brom in the Championship. The centre-back featured 33 times in the league, scoring once as he helped the Baggies claim an eventual 10th place finish. Now though, Stoke-on-Trent Live report that Clarke is ‘expected to be available’ this summer, either in another loan move on in a permanent move, and that Stoke City are among a number of Championship clubs keen.

Clarke is a graduate of the Ipswich Town youth academy but moved to Portsmouth in 2015 where he racked up well over 100 league appearances, before being snapped up by Brighton in 2019. But he’s yet to make his debut for the Seagulls having spent the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons on loan with Derby County. Now though, Clarke could be about to seal a permanent exit from the south coast club, and Stoke City could be the club to land him.