Stoke City and Jack Butland’s £3.5m Birmingham City deal remains a touch of genius

In January 2013, then Premier League side Stoke City decided to sign 19-year-old goalkeeper Jack Butland from Birmingham City.

Despite being a Championship youngster, Butland had previously played international football for Great Britain at the Olympics and was a full England international after making his debut for the Three Lions in the summer of 2012.

This was to prove a very shrewd signing, with the club paying just £3.5million to bring the Bristol-born goalkeeper to the club, and the player would go on to enjoy a successful few years at the bet365 Stadium, thus consolidating himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the country.

Considering he was an England international at 19, Stoke managing to sign Butland for such a small fee was an incredible deal, and he certainly didn’t let the club down during his seven years at the Potteries.

Signing Jack Butland from Birmingham City was a masterstroke by Stoke City

It’s been an eventful few years for Jack Butland, and he was called up to the England squad for Euro 2012, having never played a first-team match for his club, Birmingham City.

However, after impressing at the Olympics for the British team and performing well on loan at Cheltenham Town, he was given the chance to become Birmingham’s first choice goalkeeper for the 2012/13 season.

Incredibly, Butland made his England debut on August 15, 2012, three days before making his competitive debut for Birmingham City, and it was clear he was a special talent.

After just half a season at St Andrew’s, Stoke decided to sign Butland on a permanent contract, but he was loaned out to the Blues for the remainder of the season as part of the deal.

He joined Stoke ahead of the 2013/14 season, but found himself third choice behind Asmir Begovic and Thomas Sorensen, so was loaned out to Barnsley, before spending time on loan with Leeds and Derby County.

However, after biding his time, Butland became first choice for the 2015/16 season after Begovic left the club for Chelsea. The youngster impressed, keeping ten clean sheets in 31 appearances, helping the Potters to a very respectable 9th place finish.

A frustrating 2016/17 campaign followed for Butland as he suffered a nasty injury which kept him out for much of the season, but he bounced back the following season.

Despite Stoke’s relegation during the 2017/18 season, the England international goalkeeper continued to perform and kept six clean sheets in 35 league matches, but was unable to maintain them.

Incredibly, the Potters managed to keep Butland in the Championship, despite many being tipped to leave.

He kept an impressive 18 clean sheets in 45 league appearances during the 2018/19 season, before keeping nine in 35 during the 2019/20 season.

However, a 5–0 defeat to Leeds United in July 2020 was to be his 168th and final appearance for the Potters, and he left the club later that year.

Although it was a less than ideal way to end his career at Stoke, he will always be remembered as an incredible signing for just £3.5 million, and he was always a remarkable performer, even when Stoke were not at their best.

Stoke City could regret not taking advantage of Jack Butland

Jack Butland left for Premier League side Crystal Palace in 2020, and the Potters were only paid £500,000 as his contract was due to expire the following summer.

It was a major blow for the Potters, with the club demanding £23m for the keeper in the summer of 2019, and in the summer of 2018 Stoke were reported to be demanding £70m to offload the keeper after he had been relegated to the Championship.

Losing huge sums of money like that was obviously poor planning on the Potters’ part, but it was unlikely any club would pay that much money for Butland, despite his good performances.

The goalkeeper remained at Crystal Palace until the summer of 2023, with a move to Manchester United thrown in for good measure, but after making just 17 appearances for the Eagles he was released.

The former Stoke man moved north to join Scottish giants Rangers, and he is thriving at Ibrox after making the number one jersey his own.

Although Butland didn’t quite hit the heights after leaving Stoke, the club will always remember him as a bargain and an exceptional goalkeeper.