Stoke City made significant changes to their squad in the summer transfer window and it was time for seven players to move on to pastures new

Stoke City's hope going into the summer transfer window was that they could overhaul the midfield and leave Mark Robins with a significantly stronger squad than they started.

The midfield department has certainly been transformed thanks to the arrivals of Ethan Galbraith, Djibril Soumare, Jack McGlynn, Justin Devenny and Svante Ingelsson, all on permanent deals. There was plenty of other business too, including centre-half Luke Graham, full-back Ben Johnson, wing-back Luca Bombino, striker George Hirst and back-up keeper Josh Griffiths.

All those deals have taken the spotlight away from who left, even if one of them was runaway player of last season Sorba Thomas on transfer deadline day. It has helped that Stoke have won six and drawn one of the eight matches since he set off for Hull to have a medical on September 1.

But with a rare free mid-week upon us it is a chance to catch up with how those players who left the bet365 Stadium for pastures new since the end of last season are getting on now.

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Lewis Baker (Bursaspor)

The 31-year-old double-footed midfielder with a tremendous long shot in his armoury found a new club in Turkiye, joining promotion-hunting Bursaspor.in the second tier. It is going well for the club, who have won eight of their opening 11 matches and currently sit second behind Kayserispor.

Baker has been used from the bench in six of those wins while he has started one game, a 2-1 home defeat to Mardin 1969 Spor, when he was taken off at half-time.

Bursaspor have been getting crowds of around the 40,000 mark and it's Ankara Keciörengücü away up next on Sunday.

Steven Nzonzi (USL Dunkerque)

One of the best players ever to pull on a Stoke City shirt returned for one last hurrah last season before returning to France to join USL Dunkerque in the second tier.

The midfielder, now aged 37, has made three appearances so far, coming off the bench in a 1-1 draw with Clermont Foot and wins over Saint-Etienne and Nantes. They have only won one of six games when he hasn't appeared.

He told L'Equipe: "I started to take care of my body at 26, when I signed for Seville, when it was 40 degrees and I was playing every three days with the Champions League [...] from there, I started to pay attention to the small details. That's why, at 37, nearly 38, I am still playing, even if I can't lie, I'm no longer in my prime, but I can continue to perform.

"As long as I can play, so long as my body doesn't hurt, I am going to play, but it is surely my last season, or my penultimate season. At some point in time, you have to think about what comes next."

Darius Lipsiuc (Notts County)

The 21-year-old made the leap to League One after an impressive loan spell at Solihull Moors in the National League last season.

He has made seven starts under Martin Paterson so far, mostly on the left in a 3-4-2-1 system and he's been away with Republic of Ireland under-21s too.

Kieron Willox (Elgin City)

The winger who joined Stoke's under-21s from Rangers in 2024 has returned to Scotland to sign for Elgin City in Scottish League Two on a one-year contract. He has been staking his claim for minutes and scored in a 7-0 thrashing of Fraserburgh in the Challenge Cup.

He is hoping to break into the starting XI as Elgin challenge for promotion, currently sitting third behidn Stranraer and Clyde.

Nikola Jojic (Start)

One of the more left-field signings of the Neil-Martin-Dublin era, Jojic joined Stoke from Mladost Lucani, played a minute of league football and went out on loan: back to Mladost then to Gorica and Radomlje. He did well in the Slovenian league in the last of those and was picked up by Start, in Norway, after leaving Stoke by mutual consent in July

He is just breaking into the Start team now and has been used from the bench in the last two matches, a 4-2 loses to HamKam and 6-1 defeat to Molde.

"It's my first time in Norway and Kristiansand," he said when he joined. "I think it's absolutely fantastic here"

Tatsuki Seko (Urawa Red Diamonds)

The 28-year-old midfielder has settled quickly back into life in Japan, becoming a fixture in the midfield at Urawa Reds, who sit ninth in the J1 League.

Narcis Pelach's RB Omiya Ardija, by the way, could be joining them in the top flight next season. They have made a flying start to life in the second tier, winning five and drawing five of their first 11 games.

Sorba Thomas (Hull City)

Got into the headlines when he flipped a car on his way into training. and has gone on to make three starts and two sub appearances in the Premier League, setting up one goal so far.

Speaking about the drama behind his deadline day move, he told HullLive: "Whatever happened in the background happened, but for me, I was just about wanting to know where I was going to be, especially with a game in the evening for Stoke so I needed to know where I was going to be.

"It was getting closer and closer to the time when the meet-up point was for Stoke, so I needed to know and yeah, I got the call saying you're allowed to go to a medical. From then it just came from the house to Manchester, then Manchester to Hull, it was a mental day."