'I just love football' - Stoke City new boy can't wait to get started

Luke Graham believes the Stoke City coaching team will help him to take his career to the next level after joining the club from Dundee FC.

The 22-year-old centre-back signed on the dotted line after a stand-out season in the Scottish Premiership which led to more than 40 clubs from England, Scotland and across Europe fighting for his signature this summer.

Stoke agreed an undisclosed fee with Dundee, believed to be about £2 million, and now he has joined on a four-year contract. He has revealed why it was the right deal for him.

He stated: "A big factor in my coming here is trying to take my game to the next level, and I feel like with the coaches here, this is the perfect place to learn to do that.

"It's the right time to take that next step in my career and I feel like Stoke's a perfect place to be to do that, there's already been a few big signings already.

Graham spoke about his rise to prominence at Dundee, winning awards, and attracting transfer attention as his form continued to grow. He also told City fans what they can expect.

He said: "It was amazing and it was really good, I just tried to build myself up, step by step and then I managed to go into the Dundee first team, the manager gave me a big chance to stake a starting place. I just wanted to repay him for the rest of the season, and I managed to do that.

"I'd say I'm a very modern center back. I like to play with the ball, take the ball out of defence, and break lines with passes. I'm also very aggressive, good in the air, and I like to defend as well,which is obviously you need that to be a centre half.

"I think I just love football really, just you know growing up playing football with my mates, and obviously me being here right now is a dream come true.

"I just want to keep playing football and learning week in, week out. I think that's the main thing you know, taking stuff from the training pitch onto the pitch on a Saturday.

"I want to keep enjoying football and just push myself as far as I can go. The main thing I wanted to do growing up was to play for my country. I've been lucky enough to do it at the 21s level, but to kind of take that next step and go and represent the first team would would be amazing

"I can't wait to get started and play in front of them, you know, I know they come and support in numbers, so I just can't wait to play in front of them and hopefully give them a good impression of myself."

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

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