Fabrizio Romano mistake left Stoke City in ‘panic’ amid speculation over key Mark Robins man

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Stoke City had a pretty successful transfer window, and they even survived a huge rumour from Fabrizio Romano regarding one of their best players.

Under Mark Robins, we’ve seen the Potters enjoy a resurgence this season. They may have lost to West Brom last weekend, but three wins from four is still a massive improvement for a team that battled relegation last term.

New Stoke City signings like Sorba Thomas have been key to that success, with the Welshman registering two goals and three assists already this season.

However, it is Viktor Johansson who is absolutely crucial to what Stoke City do, and Potters fans will be delighted the Swedish stopper is staying put.

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Viktor Johansson happy at Stoke City despite Fabrizio Romano claim

A month ago, Fabrizio Romano claimed Johansson was wanted by West Ham. That sparked panic among the Potters fanbase, who were fearful of losing their star man.

However, it was quickly said that Stoke were confident of keeping Johansson and that he was happy at the club.

Now, a report from Pete Smith at the Stoke Sentinel has shed further light on the matter, with claims that the initial post from Romano sparked “panic” within the club as they had assumed the goalkeeper was “not thinking about leaving.”

Turns out, Romano got it entirely wrong. It’s thought the transfer expert mixed up Viktor Johansson and West Ham target John Victor. The Botafogo stopper eventually signed for Nottingham Forest, and nothing came of the Johansson rumours.

The tweet from Romano was a “puzzler” at first, but even with more recent interest from Sunderland in Johansson, Stoke have kept their man and he should now be a key part of their season.

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Stoke City’s most important decision this summer was keeping Viktor Johansson

Johansson has already earned praise from Mark Robins this season, after the win over Southampton. It likely won’t be the last time we hear positive things said about the Swedish star.

Indeed, of all the business Stoke did this summer, keeping Johansson may just be the most important deal of them all.

He was incredible last season, and outside of the top three ‘keepers (James Trafford, Illan Meslier, and Michael Cooper) no other player kept more clean sheets in the second tier in 2024/25.

Johansson did that in a struggling Stoke side. Now that the Potters are a lot stronger, it’s tantalising to think what he could do.