Stoke City have been linked with interest in Brazilian centre-back Rodrigo Guth as the January transfer window creeps ever closer.

Narcis Pelach has made Stoke into a hard team to beat. They’ve lost just one of their last nine games – a 2-0 away defeat against co-Championship leaders Sheffield United – with this most recent run of two wins and three draws in their last five outings helping them to climb the table a bit.

Even still, the Spanish boss and the club’s recruitment team aren’t resting on their defensive laurels, as they are said to be targeting another option at the back in the winter window.

Rodrigo Guth emerges as Stoke City transfer interest

Guth, a 24-year-old centre-half who plays in the Eredivisie for Fortuna Sittard, is said to be a player of intrigue to the Potters, according to German outlet Fussball Europa.

He has played for some well-known clubs already in his career, starting out with Brazilian side Coritiba before moving on to Italy, where he suited up in the blue and black of Atalanta.

Having spent a couple of years in the Serie A and Serie B, Guth eventually made his first move to the Netherlands, joining NEC Nijmegan on loan in the summer of 2021, before permanently switching to the Dutch nation when he was bought by Fortuna in the following summer.

Guth has been a regular starter for Sittard since arriving, making a total of 78 starts in that time. He has goals to play for his national team, but downplayed the idea of him wanting to move up the ranks in the Eredivisie to one of the bigger clubs in an interview with ESPN in March.

He said: “No, not that. I have to go there eventually. That’s what I want. I’m doing my best and seeing if it’s possible to get there.

“They are big clubs. Playing European matches would help me get into the picture with Brazil, but for now that’s a long way off. I realise that too. It would just be fantastic. Now I only use my imagination for that.”

Stoke are not the only club to have been linked with Guth, whose contract with Fortuna runs until the summer of 2027. Ferencvaros and Panathinaikos were previously said to be looking at the defender, as per the Stoke Sentinel.

Rodrigo Guth move isn’t a must for Stoke

As mentioned, it’s become quite a tough task to take all three points from Stoke in recent times. They have only conceded three goals in their last five matches, but a lot of that can be put down to the brilliance of their goalkeeper, Viktor Gyokeres, who has prevented 8.5 goals from going in this season, according to Sofascore, based on the shots he has faced.

So there is room for improvement defensively, in terms of the outfield players, but it is not an area of glaring issue. Guth’s contract status, and his importance to Fortuna, will raise his price, and that’s not even considering that they would be trying to buy him in January.

If it’s a move that Stoke end up making, there’s definite merit and updside to it, but it’s not an absolute must-do of a deal for them.