Mark Robins makes Wouter Burger admission in Stoke City transfer truth

Robins has been full of praise for Burger both in terms of his contribution on the pitch and his reaction to not getting a transfer he expected in January. The midfielder has now completed a switch to Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga.

“I think it was a set-back losing Wouter but we can use that to our advantage and try to rebuild,” said Robins. “Wouter knows that. Wouter was brilliant for me. He did everything right. I wish him nothing but the best.

“He helped us no end last year and certainly from the end of January when there were teams who wanted to take him. His reaction from that and the decision to not allow a move for him, which may have been more lucrative – who knows – I just saw him improving all the time for us.

“He ended up being an instrumental player in that run in. That’s what we signed him for, what we wanted him for.

“If you get your head turned, some players can’t handle it but he did. He was really mature about it, did it properly. Hence, I wish him all the best and whatever he does at Hoffenheim.”

Burger’s exit leaves a hole in Stoke’s central midfield but Stoke knew they would probably have to sacrifice a first team asset to fund squad rebuilding work this summer due to the constraints of financial fair play rules.

Robins said: “That’s the reason he’s gone. You want to keep the best players in the building and this club is no different but we’re just in a circumstance when we have to adhere to the rules – which Stoke City do. A lot of others might circumvent them and do whatever they’re doing but we have to do it right and we’ll continue to do it right.

“If that means that we have to do what we’ve just done and lose an instrumental player – a really, really good player – then we’ve got to make it work for us and rebuild and rebuild better than we’ve put out before so we can get results and move up the table when we can.

“This season is tough. They’re all tough but this one particularly is tough. You can already see the movers and shakers and what the league is going to be. We’re going to have to be better than we were last year and before and we aim to be much, much better and more competitive, right from the start.”