Stoke City are finalising a deal that will see Ben Wilmot move to the bet365 Stadium this summer.

What's the talk?

That's according to a report by Football League World, who claim that Michael O'Neill's side have agreed a deal with Watford regarding the transfer of the 21-year-old centre-back, who has already completed a medical with the Potters.

The news of Wilmot's arrival comes shortly after reports claimed that Burnley and Stoke have agreed a £12m fee for the transfer of Nathan Collins, with the Championship side appearing to have landed the defender's replacement almost instantly.

O'Neill will be delighted

With the sale of Collins having not been confirmed as yet, the fact that Stoke have acted so swiftly in the transfer market to replace the 20-year-old is sure to have left O'Neill delighted.

And, considering the amount of potential the £2.7m-rated defender appears to possess, it would certainly seem as if the Watford man will be a great addition to the Northern Irish manager's backline next season.

Indeed, while the 21-year-old did not feature all that often for Xisco Munoz's Watford side last season, with just 14 of his 25 Championship appearances coming as starts, when the centre-back was selected, he turned in a number of impressive performances for the club.

One such display came against the Hornets' promotion rivals Norwich City back in December, a game in which Wilmot made seven clearances, one interception, one tackle and blocked one shot, with his efforts earning him a SofaScore match rating of 7.2 - the best rating of any Watford defender in the 1-0 win, and against a side who boasted the second-best attacking record in the league.

As such, with the player whom Troy Deeney claimed is captain material appearing to be on his way to Stoke this summer, with regular game time and a manager who trusts him, the Potters could be seeing these kind of performances from the £5k-per-week defender in the not so distant future, something that will undoubtedly help soften the blow of losing Collins.

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