Maksym Talovierov to Stoke City transfer as Plymouth Argyle boss makes exit admission

Stoke City are making a beeline for Ukraine international Maksym Talovierov from Plymouth Argyle

Plymouth Argyle manager Tom Cleverley admits he expects record signing Maksym Talovierov to seal an imminent exit.

Stoke City are believed to be closing in on a deal for the 25-year-old Ukraine centre-back, who joined Plymouth from Austrian side LASK for about £1.7 million in January.

Talovierov gave a glimpse of his potential in the Championship and FA Cup, and Stoke have had to fight off considerable competition to lure him to the bet365 Stadium.

Cleverley told PlymouthLive: “We expect Maxi to complete his move away from the club. I think that’s 99 per cent done.

“We don’t expect Maxi back in the building – again a player who you can see is quality, he plays for Ukraine and he’s trying to get to World Cup.

“He’s been very respectful with myself, he’s been very respectful with his teammates, and if you are unfortunately going to lose a player like Maxi he’s certainly done it in a very respectful way and he’s gone to the level above, which is the nature of being relegated at times.”

It will be a blow for Plymouth, who have already lost Ryan Hardie, Adam Randell, Mustapha Bundu and Dan Grimshaw since falling into League One. They have been busy signing players too, however, including potential Talovierov replacement Brendan Wiedu from Fleetwood Town.

New head of football operations David Fox, who did co-comms on Stoke games last season, told PlymouthLive: “I just think that’s natural. It’s the start of what I would say is a new cycle. That’s not uncommon, that’s what happens. If you go back to when I left the club in 2019 we had just been relegated, same situation.

“The club found itself in League Two and there was a huge change, with (Ryan Lowe), with Steven (Schumacher), with a new backroom staff and players like myself, (Graham) Carey, (Ruben) Lameiras, (Freddie) Ladapo – lads that the fans really connected to – all moved on.

“There has to be a change, there has to be a change in mentality, there has to be a feeling of freshness around the place, and you have to have people that want to be here, want to fight and scrap, and be part of being at Plymouth Argyle not to be in the Championship.

“Now, lads that have moved on this summer, some wanted to stay but we couldn’t offer them Championship football and that’s ultimately what they wanted, to play in the Championship.

“What we can offer is an unbelievable platform to people to come and play, and come and really progress and perform. This club has been littered with players that haven’t been been stand-out careers at unbelievable levels but we give them the platform.”