Stoke City Reportedly Agree to Deal for FC Dallas' Brek Shea

Brek Shea is reportedly all but a physical away from being a member of Stoke City. 

Soccer By Ives' Ives Galarcep broke the news that, according to sources, FC Dallas and Stoke City have a deal in place for the midfielder. The move is reported to be pending Shea's physical. 

Galarcep reports that Shea left on Monday to take his physical. 

This move is not  a surprise. There has been speculation that Shea would be headed to Europe for some time. However, those talks appeared to hit a snag. As you can imagine, the snag was money. 

According to Galarcep, Stoke City was originally offering $3 million for Shea. That was a million too short for FC Dallas, who wanted $4 million for their star midfielder. 

While Shea is just 22 years old, the physical should not be overlooked in this case. Back in November, Shea had surgery to remove a bone in his foot. At the time, his recovery from the surgery was expected to be 12-14 weeks. 

Obviously, Stoke is not going to want a player whose foot has not properly healed, or looks like it will still limit him. It was certainly limiting him prior to the surgery. 

Shea missed the final month of FC Dallas' last season due to an abdominal strain that stemmed from the foot injury.

In the 21 games prior to the injury, Shea had modest stats with three goals and two assists. The season before, he netted 11 goals.

Still, Shea has a world of potential. He is a versatile midfielder with a good size/speed combo. He brings value to both offense and defense, and at just 22, he has plenty of time to continue to perfect his craft.