Yahoo News Stoke City Premier League stalwart on trial at Championship rivals
Erik Pieters was a surprise name on the Luton Town teamsheet for a behind-closed-doors pre-season friendly against Stevenage.
The former Stoke City defender, now aged 35, is a free agent after being released by West Bromwich Albion following two seasons at the Hawthorns. He played fairly regularly as Albion had finished ninth and then fifth in the Championship, losing in the play-off semi-finals to Southampton in May.
He has morphed from left-back to centre-half since leaving Stoke and has been given a chance to play this summer by Luton manager Rob Edwards as he prepares his squad following relegation from the Premier League. He played 45 minutes in a 3-0 win over Stevenage on Monday afternoon. Edwards also gave a run out to former Shrewsbury Town youth centre-back Vladimir Paternoster.
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Pieters joined Stoke from PSV Eindhoven in the same summer as Mark Hughes was appointed manager back in 2013 although he had been lined up the previous January window only for the move to be delayed due to injury. He was a fixture at left-back under Hughes as Stoke finished in the top half three years on the spin and he ended up collecting 18 caps for the Netherlands.
It was a surprise when he was moved out by Nathan Jones in 2019, at first on loan to Amiens before a permanent switch to Burnley. He joined West Brom in 2022 and has made a point of applauding the Stoke supporters in all stands when he has returned to the bet365 Stadium as an opponent.
Stoke head to Luton - where former Stoke players Jacob Brown and Alfie Doughty are already in Edwards' changing room - on December 10 before a re-match in the Potteries on April 8. So far this summer, Luton have signed midfielder Shandon Baptiste from Brentford.
