Blues striker Ali Al-Hamadi has completed his move to Stoke City on loan for the rest of the season.


As reported earlier, the clubs agreed terms on a deal with the player having held talks with the Potters yesterday before passing a medical this morning and finalising the move before the deadline in order to play in tomorrow’s home game against Oxford United.

Stoke are understood to have paid the Blues a substantial loan fee for the move which is purely to the end of the season with no provision to become permanent. The Potters gave assurances that Al-Hamadi would get regular football with Mark Robins’s side.

Earlier in the week, Al-Hamadi held talks with West Brom boss Tony Mowbray with a proposed permanent switch falling through regarding the fee, contrary to reports elsewhere claiming it was due to his medical.

Blues legend Jon Walters, currently the sporting director at Stoke, told his club’s official website: “Strikers of real pedigree are one of the hardest commodities to secure in any transfer window, so to get Ali over the line is a significant boost for us all.

“We know there has been significant interest from other clubs and are delighted he has opted to join Stoke City.

“Ali’s goalscoring record speaks for itself, but it’s his relentless hard-working approach that truly epitomises what we stand for as a club.

“We have no doubt that our fans will take to Ali, and we wish him every success in a Stoke City shirt.”

Al-Hamadi has been Town’s third-choice frontman this season but his only starts came in the cup ties against his former club AFC Wimbledon and Bristol Rovers.

In the summer, the Iraqi international, who had undergone adductor surgery at the end of last season, was close to signing for Derby on loan but the move didn’t happen after Town pulled out of the deal to sign Armando Broja on loan from Chelsea.

A move to a Championship club during January either on loan or permanently has always looked on the cards with the Blues keen to bring in a more senior frontman during this window, although with manager Kieran McKenna having said yesterday that there is no guarantee that will happen before the Monday 3rd February deadline.

Iraq-born, Liverpool raised Al-Hamadi joined Town from AFC Wimbledon in January last year for a fee which, following promotion, rose to around £2 million.

He has made three starts - one in the league - and 24 sub appearances for the Blues, scoring five times. His only goal this season came in the Carabao Cup tie against his old club at Plough Lane in August.

The one-time Wycombe frontman’s departure frees up a space in Town’s 25-man Premier League squad, which has to be resubmitted shortly after the transfer window closes.

Photo: Matchday Images

runningout added 20:34 - Jan 24 sure Ali will brighten the place up on a cold Tuesday night
0

Clutch added 20:34 - Jan 24 RIP Stokes social media.
14

RobsonWark added 20:38 - Jan 24 Not sure what Walters is on about but hey ho. Shame we couldn't sell him.
-3

cartman1972 added 20:41 - Jan 24 Our Instagram and Facebook posts will be a lot quieter thank god
4

mutters added 20:49 - Jan 24 Best of luck Ali, go and get some game time, continue to learn and grow your game and come back ready for next season. Great opportunity for him
8

Tampa_Florida_Blue added 20:50 - Jan 24 I think this is a good move for all concerned. Mark Robins seems to get the best out of his players. I think player more regularly will help Ali’s development to. Get him back to scoring some goals.
6

WeWereZombies added 21:09 - Jan 24 Jon Walters was certainly one of our most hardworking forwards so any influence he can have on Al-Hamadi can only be a good thing.
9

USA added 21:13 - Jan 24 He won’t be playing for us again. We were willing to let him leave in the summer and again in January. This club has much bigger ambitions than AAH can offer. Nice guy I’m sure but anyone thinking he’s going on loan to improve and come back here is entirely deluded.
0

cressi added 21:13 - Jan 24 For any negatively Mowbray and Robins both wanted him both good championship managers.
6

USA added 21:15 - Jan 24 I’ll also be interested to see how much he plays by the end of the season. Any club promising lots of minutes is setting themselves up for a fall, whomever the player is. No club should be promising stuff like that.
1

blueboy1981 added 21:33 - Jan 24 I ask ? - Who are the Best Judges of a Player, Mogga, Robins, and Walters ? - or the ‘so called’ self appointed experts on here ?? I know who my advice would be taken from ! Good Luck Ali - I’m sure you will do well, and do the Club proud !
6

smithlarr added 21:43 - Jan 24 Not had a good amount of game time since League 2 with Wimbledon, hopefully he can show he belongs at the higher levels with some game time, his attitude is there for sure.
6

USA added 21:52 - Jan 24 Blue boy 81. Or Kieran McKenna who was happy to let him leave permanently (just happened to end up being a loan)
3

Mark added 22:30 - Jan 24 A substantial loan fee sounds very good business. There are so few strikers about that he could very quickly be worth a lot of money if he can start scoring goal regularly at Championship level. Al-Hamadi scored 23 in 42 for Wimbledon, so now he is a couple of years older there is no reason to think he can't score a few for Stoke.
6

churchmans added 22:43 - Jan 24 @CLUTCH lol defo
-1

gosblue added 23:12 - Jan 24 This is good business for ITFC. If he performs, he will carry valuable Championship experience into next season. Either for us or for a new club if we should stay up. If Walters and Robins see him as a replacement for Tom Cannon, that's high praise. I hope he earns it.
4

flykickingbybgunn added 00:59 - Jan 25 Good for Ali, Stoke and Town. He needs regular football. Best wishes To him.
5

Blogs 298 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls