Ryan Mmaee has left Stoke City to join SK Rapid Wien on a season-long loan.
The 26-year-old striker has had a challenging time since joining Stoke from Ferencvaros for an initial fee of about €2 million, or £1.7m, in the summer of 2023 under a previous regime.
He has been unable to hold down a starting shirt for a sustained period, in part due to injuries, and his game time is likely to be limited this season following the signings of Tom Cannon, Sam Gallagher and Lewis Koumas plus development of Emre Tezgel.
He has, ironically, been fit to start the last two games while Gallagher recovers from injury and before deadline day signing Cannon was registered but he sought out boss Steven Schumacher for clarification on his status in the squad and, after Hull failed with a very late loan bid on Friday, he has found an exit route in Austria.
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Mmaee has made 27 Championship appearances for Stoke in all, scoring three goals, and is under contract until 2026. The loan deal is believed to include a purchase option.
Sporting director Jon Walters said: “Ryan is keen to secure as much game time as possible and, after speaking to Steven (Schumacher) about the likely opportunities this season,
we believe it makes sense for all parties for him to take the opportunity to go out on loan in pursuit of the regular first team football he desires.”
Rapid have lost two forwards to injury and were keen to bring in another before their window closed on Thursday.
Sporting director Markus Katzer said: “As we all know, the injury devil has struck mercilessly in our attacking ranks recently.
We are convinced that all of our attackers will soon be available again, but in order to achieve our goals as safely as possible, we needed to take action.
“By loaning Ryan Mmaee, we are gaining an experienced and accurate striker who has also gained a lot of experience in the European Cup.
In addition to being a very good finisher, he is also an excellent ball guard. Like our coach Robert Klauss, I am delighted that we can now welcome Ryan to our team.”
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