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Need to know Ethan Galbraith, surprise Stoke City transfer and the 'stick' in store from Swansea City Ethan Galbraith will make his first league appearance for Stoke City against the club he joined them from and managers, pundits and the man himself have been having their say Ethan Galbraith set to make Stoke league debut vs Swansea - Stoke City confirmed the signing of Northern Ireland midfielder Ethan Galbraith from Swansea on July 1. Galbraith had spent a year in South Wales after joining from Leyton Orient. He has signed a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, which reports have suggested is somewhere between £5m and £10m. - The 25-year-old made his debut in a Carabao Cup win over Oldham Athletic last weekend and is in line for his first league start this Saturday (3pm) - at the bet365 Stadium against Swansea. - It is not a path too regularly travelled. There was goalkeeper Frank Elliott in 1953 and midfielder Robbie James in 1983 as well as Sam Clucas in 2018. Clucas had endured a difficult year in South Wales after a big money move from Hull, ending in Swansea being relegated alongside Stoke. - Clucas loved going up against the Swans in a Stoke shirt and fiercely celebrated a couple of goals against them. He told The Sentinel after one of those goals, in 2020: “I never came into this game saying, 'If I score I’m going to celebrate and go mad.’ “It’s being in the heat of the game and hearing the fans give you stick. It’s one of them where you’ve got to give it both ways. That’s how life works. They’re giving me a bit of stick for missing in the first half, so if I score I’m, going to enjoy it a bit more. It’s nothing personal and the most important thing for us is the three points. “It’s better than going over there and putting two fingers up, or the middle finger. It’s all good fun, nothing personal. If they’re going to give a bit of stick, it’s nice to give them a little bit back and at the end of the day it’s a game football and nothing’s come from it." - Galbraith isn't expecting a warm reception either. He said: “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 to get three points.” - The switch caught the attention of Championship pundits. Sky Sports summariser Don Goodman said: “I saw the £10 million figure being floated around, but clearly, it's a significant sum of money. “I was surprised on two fronts, really. Firstly, I'm surprised Swansea were prepared to sell him. You would expect them to have a bit of ambition this season, especially given they brought in a new manager who did very, very well. Maybe the figure was just too good for them to turn down. That’s certainly what it looks like. “Secondly, with all due respect to Stoke, they haven't had a top-half finish in the eight seasons they've spent in the Championship since being relegated from the Premier League. I was surprised they were able to attract him, because I'm sure he would have had plenty of other suitors. “That said, Stoke are showing real intent. I think they've probably done more business in this window so far than any other team, so there is clearly a massive desire to push upwards from Stoke City. I rate him really highly. He's a very composed player, excellent on the ball, can play in multiple positions, and reads the game well. I think Stoke have landed a cracking player there. It's also great to see them backing Mark Robins." - Not The Top 20's Ali Maxwell said: "It is possibly the headline of the Championship window so far - Ethan Galbraith from Swansea to Stoke for a pretty penny." Co-host George Elek said: "There are big similarities with the Andre Brooks deal - not in terms of the player itself but a player who has thrived since moving from Leyton Orient to Swansea, has shown what he's capable of at Championship level and possibly beyond. A wonderful athlete who is very competent on the ball, scores good goals, very tidy in possession without being overly progressive, able to play central midfield or at right-back. "If you had told Swansea fans a couple of months ago that he would be leaving they would think he would be going to a top Championship club, a parachute payment club or a bottom half Premier League club. For him to go to Stoke, who had a poor season last season - and have had so many poor seasons recently - feels like a big coup for Stoke and a massive blow for Swansea and their fans to lose a prized asset. "It's difficult with Stoke, a lot of good players go there who we expect to be good and there's no getting away from it being that Stoke hasn't been a good place to flourish as a player or manager in recent seasons. Maybe that is going to change under Mark Robins. Stoke fans should be very excited because he's a good player." - Stoke had needed to act fast to get the deal done. Sporting director Jon Walters said: "The fact that he became available was a bit of a shock. I think I said it in a meeting with staff that it had to be done within 24 hours. We had to work really hard, really quickly to make that happen." - Stoke have had a little more wriggle room in the transfer market after a change to the financial rules. Walters again: "We’ve been able to go out and sign Ethan Galbraith for X amount and I’d put him on a par with Hayden Hackney as one of the best midfielders in the division last year. We were able to make those signings and make sure everyone knows we’re serious about the top eight and being there. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do between now and the end of the window. We’ll see more people coming in and out and we want to make signings that add quality rather than just be part of the squad.” - Mark Robins is looking forward to a new campaign with a new-look midfield. He said: “I think they’ll get better as well. Three coming in changes the department fundamentally. There has been disrupted time for Ethan while Svante was out for a little while prior to coming but he’s worked really hard and will get better and better over time. “Djibril is somebody who can be really, really effective but he’s got to work hard to get to the level that he can get to – because he could be anything. He’s a physical specimen. He’s a really good athlete. Getting him to use that and for him to be able to reach his potential with us is going to take a bit of time but he will work towards that goal.”