Stoke City will open the door for close-season exits for forwards Ryan Mmaee, Andre Vidigal and Niall Ennis.

Stoke have been holding talks with players about their futures since the end of the season and StokeonTrentLive understands that the trio's departures will be sanctioned this summer, with one year left on their contracts.

All three arrived in 2023/24 in previous bet365 Stadium regimes but have barely figured in the past season and both Mmaee and Ennis have already spent time away on loan.

Mmaee hasn’t played a senior match since August, when he last ran out for Stoke at Plymouth and last scored in the Championship in December 2023. He got injured in his first training session on loan at Rapid Vienna, who negotiated an early return to Stoke in January.

The 27-year-old Morocco international – who was signed for an initial fee of about £1.5m from Hungarian club Ferencvaros – recovered from a hamstring injury in time to make an appearance for Stoke under-21s, take a spot on the first team bench and let Mark Robins get to him know him as a player and character on the training ground. A move to Europe is likely.

Stoke have been prepared to let Vidigal leave in the last two windows but the 26-year-old has been keen to stick around, knowing that game time would be in limited supply. He featured 10 times as a substitute in the campaign just finished.

The £500,000 signing from Madeira-based Maritimo only played once, in the FA Cup, after Robins took over as manager.

He still managed to win a first call-up for Angola and he made his senior international debut in a World Cup qualifier against Cape Verde in March, having previously represented Portugal at youth level.

Ennis was reunited with his old Plymouth Argyle manager when Steven Schumacher signed him for £500,000 from Blackburn Rovers in January 2024. He scored on his full debut, in a defeat at Blackburn, but then didn’t find the net again for 11 months and an FA Cup trip to Sunderland. He played twice for Robins after that before Stoke sanctioned a loan move to Blackpool.

The 25-year-old did well back in League One, scoring seven times in 17 starts and two sub appearances and there is interest at that level now, including from Steve Bruce’s Blackpool and, reportedly Schumacher, who is now managing Bolton Wanderers, as well as Wigan Athletic, who are managed by another ex-Argyle boss Ryan Lowe.

Bruce said recently: “(Ryan Lowe is) his old manager, so it doesn’t surprise me. He’s done very well Niall, he’s enjoyed his football here. We’re delighted with what he’s done for us, so let’s have conversations and see what we can do.

“The move had done him the world of good and put him back in the spotlight, and he’s scored a few goals for us. I’d like to keep him if I could, but we’ll see what happens. We’ve got to be mindful of the fact that he belongs to Stoke, so if there’s a deal to be done, let’s see what we can do.”

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