Ben Gibson has revealed he had brutally honest conversations with his friend Jon Walters as he made up his mind that Stoke City was the right club to join.
Centre-back Gibson was not short of offers this summer as he leaves Norwich City after four years, having just helped the team finish in the Championship play-off places. He knew a lot about Stoke from the outside – its history, its owners and the facilities – but he wanted to know what was really happening on the inside before he committed to join.
The 31-year-old had been clubmates with Walters, now Stoke’s sporting director, at Burnley and the ability to talk frankly helped seal the deal.
He said: “That was huge. To be honest, I’ve spoken about the magnitude of the club, the unbelievable owners, the facilities, the stadium, what really matters to me is where are we heading? The training ground is fantastic and it’s really important to create a good culture but all of that is fluffy stuff to be honest.
“What really matters is where are we heading, what are we trying to achieve? As much as I love Jon and want to play for a club the size of Stoke, if the aim is to replicate last season or be at best a mid-table Championship team, I wouldn’t be signing here now. I would have kept my options open, dragged it out over the summer. But the commitment to the cause was clear for me. I know what we all want to achieve.
“Throughout my career I’ve either been fighting to get into the Premier League or been in the Premier League. I hope that this season, although it’s very early to say so, is no different.”
Gibson spoke to head coach Steven Schumacher too as he made sure that everyone at Stoke was on the same page.
“I had a Zoom call well before I signed,” he said. “He really excited me. He knew a lot about me! I’ve obviously played against his teams at Plymouth and Stoke last season and both teams were different games. But certainly when we played against Plymouth, they were a fantastic footballing team. He did a magnificent job there and certainly ended the season at Stoke with the lads playing some unbelievable football. That’s really key because we want to take that momentum forward.
“It was big for me that he had clarity in the way that he wants to play and he knew what I could add because it’s all good having conversations with Jon but if those visions aren’t aligned with the manager, if I’m not someone who the manager sees fitting into his style of play, it’s not going to work.
“He really, really impressed me, I’m really, really looking forward to working for him. Everyone you speak to in football, whether they’ve played with him or played for him, can’t speak highly enough of him and I’m really looking forward to getting to know him and working for him.”