Ex-Manchester United star dubbed ‘little Iniesta’ named EFL transfer of the summer

Aug 5, 2026 - 11:30

Jeff Stelling has backed Stoke City to make a push for promotion after securing his personal pick as the best EFL transfer so far.

The talkSPORT Breakfast host labelled the Potters’ £10million capture of Ethan Galbraith from Championship rivals Swansea as a ‘real coup’.

Ethan Galbraith of Northern Ireland is challenged by Mateo Retegui of Italy during the FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualifiers KO play-offs match between Italy and Northern Ireland at Stadio di Bergamo — Galbraith played for Northern Ireland in their World Cup playoff defeat to Italy and is now being backed to guide his new club into the EFL playoffs

So much so that Stelling believes the Northern Irish midfielder can help propel the Potters into a potential play-off spot come May.

Galbraith revealed the chance to get Stoke back to the Premier League for the first time since 2018 as a factor in him joining in July.

The 25-year-old has never made an appearance in England’s top-flight despite spending six years on the books at Manchester United.

Galbraith, once described by ex-Northern Ireland boss Ian Baraclough as their country’s Andreas Iniesta or Xavi, made just one first-team appearance for the Red Devils.

That came under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the Europa League in 2019, with the midfielder joining Leyton Orient permanently in 2023.

He has now switched clubs for a second successive summer, with Swansea making an instant profit on the £1.5m they spent to take him from the O’s 12 months ago.

EFL transfer of the summer

Discussing the business done at the top end of the Championship, Stelling told talkSPORT: “West Ham just haven’t gone for it at all, there’s been players going out the door.

“Wolves, look, old heads have come in, Raul Jimenez, he showed it in the World Cup, he’s still a handful.

“Kieran Trippier, still a good player; they’re not going to be playing for Rob Edwards as they anticipated, but Cesar Peixoto, who’s their new Portuguese boss… so I think they might be [up] there.

Ethan Galbraith of Manchester United U23s in action during the Premier League 2 match between Manchester United U23s and Brighton — Galbraith was highly rated at Man United but played just once for the senior team

‘Thought he had a sniff of a move to the Premier League’

Stelling continued: “Best signing for me, and this will please Stoke fans, not much to shout about in recent seasons, they signed Ethan Galbraith, paid around £10million for him from Swansea.

“I’ve always been impressed with him; I saw him for Swansea and Northern Ireland as well, a former Manchester United kid, he’s 25 now.

“I thought he had a sniff of a move to the Premier League, to be honest, so for Stoke, I think that’s a real coup.

“Whether he’s enough to propel them up the table and into a challenge for promotion, it’s been a long time…

“They are looking for him to be their talisman, to propel them towards the play-off places, at least; I think that’s a real possibility.”

Stelling’s only other rival for the best EFL transfer so far has gone under the radar in Bristol City’s capture of Swiss striker Lorent Tolaj.

The 24-year-old has scored 38 goals in all competitions across the past two seasons, which included finding the net in four of his last six matches for Plymouth.

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Stelling added on Breakfast: “My other one, actually, this is a bit of a left-wing signing: Bristol City have signed a boy called Lorent Tolaj.

“He’s a Swiss striker, £3m they’ve paid Plymouth, now, this is big money in the EFL; players don’t often move for money.

“Three seasons or so ago, he had a trial at Hartlepool, and he was deemed at the time… I’m not going to tell you who said this, but he was deemed at the time to be no better than what we already had in the National League.

“He ended up at Aldershot; he scored 22 goals that season for them in the National League. The following season, he scored 15 in the Football League for Port Vale.

“And last season, he scored 22 for Plymouth in League One, and now he’s got his move to the Championship.

“I think this boy is good enough to score goals in the Championship.”