Stoke City are reportedly still attempting to outmuscle their Championship rivals, Swansea City, in a transfer saga that could see Crystal Palace winger, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, move to the Bet365 Stadium on a loan basis.
That is according to transfer guru, Alan Nixon, who has hinted at such goings-on via his X account on Monday afternoon, with the Potters still looking to make their first moves in the winter transfer window.
At 23 years of age, Rak-Sakyi is no stranger to the EFL at this stage of his career, initially making a name for himself on loan at Charlton Athletic in the 2022/23 campaign.
In 49 appearances for the Addicks, who were in League One at the time, the London-born winger would score 15 times and produce a further nine assists, with many suggesting that a Championship stint, or even a long-term breakthrough with the Eagles was the right step for his parent club to take in terms of his development.
Despite a handful of changes being made to Palace’s attack, which has seen both Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze depart for large sums to Bayern Munich and Arsenal respectively, Rak-Sakyi has been limited with the amount of first-team minutes he has received at Selhurst Park despite his previous, and current reputation.
After making eight appearances for Palace in 2023/24 and just one more last term, the wide player linked up with Sheffield United last season, with a tally of seven goals and two assists across 34 appearances in the regular Championship campaign, enough to help Chris Wilder’s side reach the play-off final, where they would suffer heartbreak against Sunderland.
Unsurprisingly, Rak-Sakyi was, again, heavily linked with another second tier loan stint last summer before joining Turkish Süper Lig side, Caykur Rizespor.
However, after scoring four times in just 13 outings, Palace have recalled their academy graduate, and Nixon claimed on Sunday that the Swans were leading the race for his services after Oliver Glasner opted not to select him for last year’s FA Cup holders’ embarrassment at the hands of sixth-tier Macclesfield.
Like Rak-Sakyi, the 24-year-old predominantly features on the right wing, and has scored five times and posted a further two assists whilst featuring in all 26 of Stoke’s league games so far this season.
