Stoke City Confirm Defensive Duo Have Signed Contract Extensions Ahead of 2017/18 Season

?Geoff Cameron and Phil Bardsley have committed their futures to Stoke City after the club announced that the pair had penned contract extensions with the club.

The Potters’ official Twitter account revealed the news on Friday morning, and confirmed that Cameron and Bardsley had put pen-to-paper on two-year and 12-month extensions respectively.

The news comes as Stoke announced their retained players’ list ahead of next term, with the biggest casualty among those released by the club being veteran goalkeeper Shay Given.

Cameron’s deal was about to enter its final 12 months before Stoke intervened to keep him at the Bet365 Stadium, and it seems that the United States international was only too happy to sign the extension by proxy.

The centre-back, who is also comfortable playing in the centre of midfield and at full-back, was restricted to just 19 matches this season as a troublesome knee problem saw Cameron miss a huge chunk of 2016/17.

The 31-year-old has made 165 appearances in all competitions since his £2m move from Houston Dynamo in August 2012, and has netted two goals during his five-year spell in Staffordshire.

Bardsley, meanwhile, was on the cusp of leaving Stoke with his contract set to expire in June. However, the right-back will now ply his trade in the Premier League for another season at least after he triggered a year’s extension to his current deal – presumably based on the number of appearances he made during the 2016/17 campaign.

Former Sunderland defender Bardsley, who joined the Potters on a free in July 2014, has featured 200 times for Stoke and has bagged himself 11 goals in that time.

Sunderland v Stoke City - Premier League

Sidelined midfielder Stephen Ireland, who is currently working his way back to full fitness from a a double leg fracture sustained in training late last year, has also been offered a new deal, but the club took to their official site to announce that Given would be one of six senior and youth players who were being let go in the summer.

The rest of the released quintet include third choice shot stopper David Bachmann, and youth products Liam Edwards, Harry Isted, Joel Taylor and George Waring.


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