It was a relatively quiet January transfer window for Stoke fans here in the Transfer Tavern…

Other than finalising a permanent move for goalkeeper Lee Grant and bringing in West Brom forward Saido Berahino, there were no other fresh faces to be seen at the Britannia. Bringing Berahino over to the Potters was a good move according to our landlord.

With Mame Diouf and Wilfried Bony being out at AFCON in January, Peter Crouch was forced to lead the line by himself, so having a pacey forward like Berahino will help to compliment the tall target man, that’s if Mark Hughes plays the two together.

Although improving in firepower going forward, Stoke failed to upgrade other areas of their team – which the Potters in the Transfer Tavern think could be just one in a long line of mistakes made by their side over the last few weeks.

With that said, let’s take a look at TWO mistakes that Stoke City made in the January transfer window, which could come to bite them at the end of the season…

Not Signing a Centre-Back

Since Robert Huth’s departure from the Britannia almost two years ago, Stoke have failed to bring in that ‘solid as a rock’ centre-back to partner Ryan Shawcross.

When the two played alongside each other, the Potters had one of the most solid defences in the league.

The club did bring in Bruno Martins Indi from Porto last Summer, and although he hasn’t been too bad, he just hasn’t lived up to the standards of the likes of Huth and Shawcross.

Selling Bojan

Moving on from the back, and towards the front. Shipping Bojan out on loan to FSV Mainz was a huge error by Mark Hughes.

Although fellow playmakers Xherdan Shaqiri and Marko Arnautovic have provided great use going forward this season, Bojan had that game-changing spark about him which is very difficult to replace.

The departure of Bojan also means there is one less player to supply the goods to the newly signed striker Berahino, so could this come round to haunt Stoke this season? Only time will tell.