Danish Keeper Bound For Bet365’s Stoke City

The Danish goalie Jakob Haugaard is set to be snapped up by Stoke City FC as they find themselves without a keeper to count on

With that all important transfer window approaching ever faster the rumor mill has gone into overdrive with players, possible destinations and amounts all being bandied about with abandon. There's a record breaking signing in the offing at Man City if the stories about Sheikh Mansour agreeing to a 70 million GBP bid for Paul Pogba, are true, and West Brom are trying to upset Aston Villa's signing of Scot Sinclair whilst Paul Robinson is moving from Blackburn Rovers back to Leeds United. It's all go.

Jakob Haugaard To Become Potter
• Danish keeper joins Stoke City
• 600,000 GBP deal all but done
• Transfer window opens in June

This seasons 'must-have' is, apparently for many teams, an addition to their goal keeping roster, with a sizeable number of teams trying to sign new ones. With some established keepers being lured away with big money offers some teams are finding themselves far more in need than others who are merely looking for a second string to their bow. This is the somewhat lamentable problem that Stoke City are facing and why they're gambling news of their new Danish signing will put them back on course.

Asmir Begovic, who would otherwise have been the obvious choice to replace Thomas Sorensen, has apparently had a few offers it would be hard to refuse, with Liverpool and Real Madrid both touted as having expressed an interest. Unable to count on Begovic, whose contract with Stoke runs out soon, Mark Hughes was forced to seek a new addition to the Potters as a replacement for the retiring Sorensen. Enter Jakob Haugaard, the big Dane from all-but Danish Champions FC Midtjylland.

Johan Dahlin Move Pushes Haugaard To Potters

The 23 year old from Sundby made his senior debut at FC Midtjylland in 2013 helping them to put a domestic title and Champions League qualification well within reach, having had a youth career that saw him have stints at Tarnby BoldKlub, Brondby IF and AB, including an appearance as his nation's goalie at the Under-18 level and two more at Under-20. His impressive persistence and performance was more than highlighted by his 25 first team appearances for the club. However their success wasn't to be to his benefit.

Matthew Benham, owner of Brentford, is a majority shareholder in Midtjylland and with their qualification for the Champions League now all but a certainty took the decision to replace Hauggard in January with the Swedish keeper Johan Dahlin whose international record was cited as providing more experience, something the team will need in the top European club competition, but that left Jakob out in the cold which is where Stoke City stepped up with the 600,000 GBP necessary to whisk him away.

There's still a medical to attend to, naturally, but barring incident the chances are that come June those who like to bet on sports in Denmark may well want to put some money behind one of their nation's most talented keepers and wager on Stoke City's chances in the Premier League next season. At six foot five the Dane should make a good fist of things under the very understanding experience of Mark Hughes and you can expect City to benefit from having a keeper they can build on for the future.

Stoke City Owned By Bet365

It is of course the online gambling giant Bet365 that owns Stoke City under the guidance of their chairman Peter Coates who is a life long fan of the club. Having languished somewhat in the middle of the table for the last few seasons this club has seen a resurgence under Mark Hughes with their ninth place finish the highest for the team since the mid seventies. This has been almost directly attributed to the Coates' interest in Stoke City FC. Something attested to by the clubs fans.

"I believe that every football club should be able to stand on its own two feet but the support that the Coates family have given to us has been absolutely phenomenal.” Said a supporter's club official, “Not just the support they've given to the players but to the facilities that have been introduced and the season ticket prices as well. Stoke City performed really well under Tony Pulis with the backing of Peter Coates and we are continuing to move forward under the management of Mark Hughes. The club is in a really good place right now."

Although whether they can break into the rarified atmosphere of the very pinnacle of the EPL remains to be seen. Perhaps the most competitive league in the world there are a lot of big spending clubs out there and this June will see a lot of them make player purchases that will only serve to increase the level of proficiency the Potters will be up against. That said, Jakod Haugaard will be looking to make a mark at the club and it's likely Mark Hughes will be able to get the best out of this young Danish talent and perhaps, if you live in Copenhagen you might want to take advantage of Denmark gambling laws and back Stoke next year on ComeOn! Sportsbook and support your countryman's efforts..