Jack Butland (Birmingham City)

Interesting that he's going there, could have a swing around that we end up with Begovic and Pepe off to Barca. The form Begovic is in many would say that's an improvement, too emotionally attached to our Pepe to say that personally but he's a good keeper.

Jack Butland has just arrived at #Stoke training ground with his agent via @juliette_grace

The plot thickens.

He's gonna be a top keeper for Stoke next season.

Interesting that he's going there, could have a swing around that we end up with Begovic and Pepe off to Barca. The form Begovic is in many would say that's an improvement, too emotionally attached to our Pepe to say that personally but he's a good keeper.

That, or Barca go after De Gea and Begovic ends up at the scum.....

Either way, Butland will be their number 1 next season and Begovic will be off to replace whoever goes to Barca.

Jones is not filling me with much confidence and the sooner Reina gets back to form the better.

How much form would you like him in? He pulled off another fantastic save again last night but gets blamed for shitty defence unfairly.

How much form would you like him in? He pulled off another fantastic save again last night but gets blamed for shitty defence unfairly.

A number of fantastic saves for that matter too!

Apparantly has signed for Stoke, 4 and a half year deal!

Bit of a strange one. Begovic set to leave?

He has been loaned back to Birmingham till the end of the season

Atleast he'll get plenty of practice of hoofing the ball.

Jack Butland completes switch to the Britannia Stadium

STOKE CITY have confirmed that they have secured the signing of England goalkeeper Jack Butland from Birmingham City.


The 19-year-old goalkeeper put pen-to-paper on a four-and-a-half year contract to seal a £3.3 million move rising to £3.5million.


As part of the agreement, Butland will be loaned back to the npower Championship club for the remainder of this season.


In announcing the transfer, Chief Executive Tony Scholes said: “This is our second major signing of a young player today.


“Jack has outstanding potential, and to underline that he joins us on a day when he has been named in the England squad.


“It says a lot about the ambitions of the Club that he has chosen Stoke City ahead a number of bigger clubs interested in him.”


Manager Tony Pulis commented: “This is a fantastic signing for the Club because Jack is the best young ‘keeper in the country with an outstanding future ahead of him in the game and we are delighted to bring him here.


“It is important that we build for the future and this adds to the strong nucleus of young players which we have within the squad. Both this signing and the arrival of Brek Shea are significant long term investments.”


Butland: “I have come here to a great Club, and I am looking forward to the challenge of playing in front of a great fan base.


“The move here ticked all of the right boxes for me, so it was quite an easy decision for me to make to be honest.


“The staff are absolutely fantastic here, and I am convinced that I will continue to develop my game here.”


Butland has enjoyed a rapid rise to prominence over the past twelve months, having becoming the youngest goalkeeper to be capped by England, while he was selected in the Great Britain side for the London Olympics last summer.


He joined Birmingham City as a schoolboy in 2007, but after graduating through the ranks at St Andrews, he gained his initial League experience in two loan spells with League Two side Cheltenham Town.


The opportunity to establish himself as first-choice at Birmingham arrived at the start of this season when Ben Foster joined West Bromwich Albion.


The campaign began with Butland earning his first international cap when he played the first half of the friendly against Italy in Berne.

stokecityfc.com

He's a steal at £3.5M. Birmingham City must be in the sh*t financially to sell for that amount.