Stoke City had the chance to acquire Timothy Fosu-Mensah but is said to have declined mainly due to concerns regarding his fitness level. Fosu-Mensah, a free agent since his departure from Bayer Leverkusen last summer, has been working on his fitness with Jong Ajax. Although he was offered to several Championship clubs, such as Stoke City, Middlesbrough, Queens Park Rangers, and Blackburn Rovers, these clubs reportedly turned down the offer because of persistent doubts about his fitness. These concerns are attributed to his previous injury problems, particularly a cruciate ligament injury that kept him out for nine months during his initial season at Leverkusen.