Ethan Galbraith opens up on 'the right decision' and early Swansea City reunion

If Ethan Galbraith can replicate the composure he shows in interviews on a football pitch, Stoke City’s investment could turn out to be as well-placed as it is large.

The 25-year-old, who set the Championship abuzz when he made what could turn out to be a £10million move from Swansea City to Stoke, says he is ready for all the attention that transfer will attract.

Sky Sports summariser Don Goodman expressed surprise the former Manchester United trainee chose the bet365 Stadium to pursue his career, while fans of his former club have been irked by what – if last season’s league table is anything to go by – they consider to be a sideways, if not backwards step. Swansea finished six places and seven points higher than Mark Robins’ men.

Yet Galbraith is playing it cool, adamant he has done the right thing, and nonplussed by the outside noise.

Pre-season has already convinced him of that: “Definitely the right decision for me,” he said. “Being here now for a couple of weeks, just the standard intensity of the training sessions, what they got and the staff want from us, it's been brilliant.

“You can see everyone's on the same page of where we want to go as a team and as a club.

FOLLOW OUR FACEBOOK PAGE! Latest Stoke City news, analysis and more via the Sentinel

“You want to be as fit as you can be, because the way we want to play, we want to be intense, we want to sort of run over teams, be physical.

"I think pre-season so far has been all those things, so I think it's going to put us in great stead when it comes to the first game of the season.”

Football’s fixtures computer has always had a leaning towards the mischievous and this season is no different. Galbraith’s first league game for Stoke will be against his former club. Jilted Swans fans will have an opportunity to make their opinions known.

“It's was a surprise, obviously, you're not ready for that, but at the same time it's football, so whatever the first game of the season was it was never going to change my mind.

“Going off social media and stuff, [I’ll get] probably not the best reception, but at the end of the day, it's football, you just have to get on with it and do your job and give your best to try and get three points.”

‘Getting on with it’ is a frequent refrain from the midfielder, and comments like Goodman’s and talk about the size of the fee get the same treatment: “You try and not think about it too much, you've came to the club to play football, so try and just focus on being the best version of me, and hopefully producing.

“It is a game where everyone's going to have an opinion, but as players the only opinion you try and take heed of is obviously the manager, coaching staff and your teammates, because that's who you're primarily playing for and playing with, so the outside noise you try and sort of block it out.”

The transfer window is open, the rumours are flying, and everyone is talking about who Stoke City will sign and who they might sell.

Delivered daily straight into you email inbox, the bulletins will feature the latest Potters news, views, transfer gossip and opinion.

Every day, the Sentinel football desk strive to deliver news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Stoke City content.Our dedicated reporter Pete Smith - who you can follow on X by clicking here - follows Stoke home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between.

Facebook: You can follow our daily updates on our Facebook page, often featuring content we don't put anywhere else - click here

WhatsApp: You can also get all your favourite content from Stoke-on-TrentLive's City team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club.App: If you prefer reading our Stoke stories on your phone, consider downloading the Stoke-on-TrentLive app, in which you can personalise the content you see by selecting Stoke City as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here.