Why Cameron Jerome and Peter Crouch Will Improve Stoke's Chances in Europe

Stoke has pulled off one of the best deadline day transfers this season as they have brought in not one, but two strikers.

Peter Crouch and Cameron Jerome have both joined the club.

Crouch joins the Potters from Tottenham, in a deal worth close to £10 million pounds as he joins his seventh club in the Premier League since he entered England's top flight in 1998 with Spurs.

Jerome joins from Championship side Birmingham City for £4 million pounds. The striker has been at Birmingham since he joined in 2006 from Cardiff City.

With the addition of these two players plus midfielder Wilson Palacios from Tottenham, the Stoke lineup has gotten a lot stronger ahead of their Premier League and Europa League campaigns.

The two forwards will be paired with Kenwyne Jones, Jonathan Walters and Ricardo Fuller to give Tony Pulis a very formidable strike force for a club that is on their way up in English football and will be around for a long time in the Premier League.

Along with Crouch comes a player that has experience playing in European competition, and it will be a huge attribute to a club that does not have many players in the squad that have played in Europe.

Stoke will face a tough group in the Europa League as they are paired alongside Dynamo Kiev, Besiktas and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Also, the grueling Premier League schedule alongside two cup competitions will affect Stoke but not so much now that Crouch and Jerome have added depth to the squad.