Hughes: I'm sending Robert Huth out on loan but he has a Stoke future

Huth, a Potters player for more than five years, has made only one Premier League appearance since suffering a knee injury in November 2013.

And the 30-year-old did not feature in the squad at all for last Sunday’s 3-0 loss at Arsenal - a game which saw his fellow German centre-back Philipp Wollscheid, newly arrived at Stoke on loan, go straight into the first XI.

To add to Huth’s situation, he was this week charged by the English Football Association with aggravated misconduct in relation to comments he made on social media. He very much seems headed for the Stoke exit door, although his manager has played down the suggestion there would be no way back for him at the Staffordshire outfit.

Speaking at his press conference to preview tomorrow’s trip to Leicester, Hughes said: “I’ve had discussions with Robert and I think it is fair to say he needs games. We are looking to try to get him that if we can.

“It needs to be at the right club, and needs to be the right opportunity for Robert himself.

“We want to get games into him so he is fit and ready for us.

“Under-21 games probably are not the right environment for him as a senior player, so he needs to get out and play games of meaning. If we can find the right team for him, hopefully he’ll get five or six games and then he can come back to us.”