Exclusive: Stoke striker Ryan Mmaee in talks over surprise exit after Championship rival saw bid rejected

Ryan Mmaee is in talks over a loan switch to SK Rapid Wien despite Stoke City rejecting a late move from a Championship rival for the Morocco international, TEAMtalk can exclusively reveal.

Mmaee joined Stoke from Hungarian side Ferencvaros last summer on a three-year contract for approximately £3.4m (€4m / US$4.4m), but despite a promising start, the 2023/24 campaign proved to be a difficult one for him.

The forward’s return of four goals and four assists from 27 appearances would certainly have fallen short of expectation, but so too did his discipline, with head coach Steven Schumacher making him train with the Under-21 squad in February.

At the time, the former Plymouth Argyle boss said: “We had an internal disciplinary issue with Ryan. A few issues that have happened. I won’t go into the details, but there were a few things that weren’t the behaviour we expect from one of our players.

“We spoke to him after the Sunderland game and told him that this was the situation and that, for the time being he wouldn’t be considered for selection.

“That’s what happened and that’s still the case. He wasn’t involved in the week leading up to the Leicester game and for now he isn’t available. This week he has been training with the fitness coaches and he will continue training at the back end of the week with the Under-21s.”

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That same month, we exclusively revealed that, despite this setback, Mmaee was intent on regaining his place in the Stoke first-team.

His representatives told TEAMtalk: “Ryan wants to correct the unfortunate situation and show the fans why he became a Potter. 

“He is committed to doing what is necessary and has always wanted to be the best player he can at Stoke City. He is very happy to be at the club and will do everything to prove this over the rest of the season.”

However, Mmae’s season was cut short by a hamstring injury in early April, as Stoke just about staved off relegation to League One.

This term, he has scored one goal in four appearances in all competitions and despite telling TEAMtalk he was feeling “positive” about the 2024/25 campaign this summer, Mmaee could be exiting the bet365 Stadium.

Stoke forward nearing loan move

TEAMtalk revealed that Austrian side Rapid Wien were finalising talks to sign the former Standard Liege man on loan from the Potters on Tuesday morning.

Our sources understand that Rapid have an option to buy him permanently and the striker is waiting on the green light from Stoke to travel there.

There is a recall option in place for January should Stoke want to activate it and if they do, it will break the buy option clause. However, TEAMtalk also understands that the Austrian side have the option to buy him for £2m (€2.37m / $2.6m).

In addition, TEAMtalk can also reveal that Stoke rejected an offer from fellow Championship side Hull City to buy Mmaee on transfer deadline day (August 30). Jared Dublin, the man who scouted Mmaee for Stoke last summer, joined Hull as their Head of Recruitment earlier in the summer, but the Potters did not want to sell to a rival.

But the Austrian transfer window does not shut until Thursday (September 5), so there is still time for a deal to be struck.

At Stoke, Mmaee is competing with Lewis Koumas, Sam Gallagher, Emre Tezgel, Niall Ennis and now Leicester City loanee Tom Cannon, who is expected to be the No.1 choice.