Stoke City old boy joins Championship rivals as outgoing striker primed for Nathan Jones showdown

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Luke Cundle is primed to make his Millwall debut today against Queens Park Rangers.

The 22-year-old midfielder has signed for Alex Neil for an undisclosed fee widely reported to be about £1 million, a huge chunk less than Stoke City were quoted when they inquired with Wolves about turning a loan deal permanent last summer. He has signed a three-and-a-half year deal, having spent the first half of this season kicking his heels at Molineux.

Steve Gallen, Millwall's director of football, said: “Luke has Championship and some Premier League experience – he is a midfielder who is comfortable on the ball, is full of energy and wants to run and play forward.

“He has a good record of goal involvements – goals and assists – at every team he has played for. I want to thank Wolves for their help with this signing. We all welcome Luke to the club and look forward to watching what he can do with us over time.”

Ki-Jana Hoever, Stoke's other prominent recent loan from Wolves, is spending the season in France and has clocked up 16 appearances for Auxerre.

Will Stoke sign any more players before deadline?

Mark Robins is keeping his cards close to his chest as Stoke head towards the end of an important but difficult transfer window.

Robins has brought in two players, brought back two players and is hoping for key players to soon emerge from the treatment room to help Stoke pull away from the wrong end of the Championship. New signing Ali Al-Hamadi is on standby for his debut at Hull today (3pm).

When asked if there would be any further incomings, said at his pre-Hull press conference yesterday: “I don’t know. I’m hopeful, always hopeful, but let’s wait and see.”

Will Stoke let anyone else leave?

Niall Ennis has left for Blackpool on loan. The striker is under contract at Stoke until 2026.

Robins, when asked if there will be any further departures, said: “Let’s wait and see. I’m hoping not, to be honest. We need to try to keep people here if we can do because we do need the bodies but then it’s not just bodies, they’ve got to be able to contribute. It’s a fine balance and any decisions that are made on anyone else are going to have to be around the last day.”

Niall Ennis primed for Blackpool debut

Niall Ennis could make his first appearance for Blackpool today at home against Nathan Jones's Charlton Athletic.

Blackpool boss Steve Bruce told the Blackpool Gazette: “He comes straight into contention, he only played last week so we know he’s fit He’s done very well at this level, he helped Plymouth get promoted with his goal, and got his move to the Championship, but that didn’t go as well as he would’ve hoped.

“We know he’s proven at this level so it can only help us. The more good players you have in the squad, the better, so let’s hope he can hit the ground running.

“With Kyle (Joseph) leaving we’ve been on the lookout in that part of the pitch. With 19 games to go, we’ve decided to bring another striker in, and we’re delighted to bring him in."

What is Stoke's position with Financial Fair Play?

Stoke are pretty clearly not in a position to sign big cheques this window and they have already filled the five loan slots available on a match day. They are allowed to sign more and leave one, two or three out every week but that doesn't seem like a road they will go down this month.

It spoke volumes that Robins, above, hinted that financial reasons lay behind sanctioning Ennis's exit and there has been mass scaling back after the £18 million transfer frenzy and subsequent wage bill hike overseen by Neil and Ricky Martin - and then head of recruitment Jared Dublin, who we might see today at Hull - in 2023/24.

And the manager is adamant that Stoke won't break the rules.

He said: “You can’t do it – or you can and you get points deductions on the back of it and all sorts of financial penalties and things like that. I don’t think there’s any way that this club would do that and rightly so. You’re playing within the rules. It’s why the rules are there, everybody should be the same and I think, in general, they are, but they’re there to protect the football club for its longevity.

“There’s only one constant and that’s the supporters. We’re all custodians of positions or institutions and you can see it on the badge, ‘Stoke City 1863’. It’s been here a long time and it’ll be here a long time after we’ve gone. While you’re here you have to make sure you do right by the club and by the people who support it.

“I go back to the togetherness, if you’re together you can sustainably build something which is going to have longevity and success. That will be something that hopefully we can do, achieve together and bring back some really good memories for supporters of Stoke City and everyone who is working here.”

When is deadline?

The window shuts at 11pm on Monday, February 3 for Premier League and EFL clubs, as well as most major European leagues including in France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Free agents can sign for a team at any time, as they are not contracted to another club.

What are the loan rules?

Clubs are allowed to have eight players on loan, but can only pick a maximum of five loanees in their match day squad.

They can only sign a maximum of four players from a specific club, of which only two can be over the age of 23.

Stoke currently have Lewis Koumas (Liverpool), Andrew Moran (Brighton and Hove Albion), Ashley Phillips (Tottenham Hotspur), Josh Wilson-Esbrand (Manchester City) and Ali Al-Hamadi (Ipswich Town)

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