Stoke City chief Jon Walters reveals truth on Wouter Burger’s attitude before Hoffenheim move

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Stoke City let Wouter Burger go to the Bundesliga outfit this summer for a surprisingly low fee.

Mark Robins’ side sit third in the Championship table amid the international break after a surprisingly stellar start.

Stoke City were heavily involved in the summer transfer window, both in terms of incomings and outgoings.

The Potters added some serious quality to their ranks with Stoke’s loan swoop for Spurs’ Jamie Donley and the late signing of Tomas Rigo.

Wouter Burger left Stoke for Hoffenheim this summer, and Potters sporting director Jon Walters has lifted the lid on how the midfielder’s attitude was around the bet365 Stadium after months of speculation.

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Jon Walters comments on Wouter Burger’s Stoke City attitude

After the Dutch star arrived from Swiss giants Basel for a near £4m fee in 2023, Stoke wanted to “double their money” on Burger this summer.

The towering central midfielder impressed during his two seasons in the Championship, with his form courting the attention of Danish Super League side FC Midtjylland in January, who had a bid for the 24-year-old rejected by Stoke.

Stoke fans will have been forgiven for being aggrieved by the paltry fee which Stoke accepted from Hoffenheim for Burger back in July, which sat in the region of £4m.

Stoke’s early-season form has softened the blow of Burger’s absence, and now, Stoke chief Walters has revealed that the midfielder’s attitude remained “excellent” after the January bid.

Walters told the Stoke Sentinel: “It was publicly known about the bid for Wouter (rejected, from FC Midtjylland) back in January.

“Sometimes, once a player thinks they are leaving it can be very hard to change that mindset. I know what it’s like to be a player and I’d rather work with them than go against them.

“When I first came in I said if people want to knock on my door and say they want to leave the football club, we can try to convince you to be here and try to develop you as a player and we’ll help you with it – and that’s happened – but sometimes you just have to go.

“But Wouter was excellent from January onwards. He was excellent around the building, even if he and his agents were open to leaving in the summer.

“It was my job to get the best deal I possibly could for the football club and then we will be able to use that to reinvest in the squad.”

Burger scored and assisted on his competitive debut for Hoffenheim in a 4-0 cup win over Hansa Rostock before suffering an injury on his Bundesliga debut against Bayer Leverkusen.

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Mark Robins has found a Stoke City solution without Wouter Burger

In the absence of Burger and Sol Sidibe after his move to PSV, Robins has found a solution to the Stoke central midfield selection.

Tatsuki Seko and Lewis Baker have performed well so far this season in the midfield double-pivot for Robins’ third-placed Stoke side.

To add to that, Stoke found their Burger replacement in the form of summer signing Rigo.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
3	Stoke CityStoke City	4	3	0	1	8	3	5	9

Rigo was a “steal” for Stoke after signing from Banik Ostrava for a reported £3m fee, and the Slovakian star is still yet to make his Potters debut.

With promotion hopefuls Birmingham City next up for Stoke this weekend, Robins could grant Rigo his Stoke debut after the midfielder scored in a 1-0 World Cup qualifier win over Luxembourg during the international break.