Yahoo News Transfer whispers from Cyprus and Turkey put Stoke City captain at crossroads
Josh Laurent will return to Stoke City as captain tomorrow ready for the start of pre-season training and what is hoped and expected will be a long-awaited new dawn for the club.
The 29-year-old midfielder has shown he can play a significant role in a Steven Schumacher side, and his work on and off the ball in those final important three games and wins of the season should not be underestimated..
Schumacher himself said with a big nod to Laurent after a 1-0 win at Southampton guaranteed survival: "You got midfield players closing their goalkeeper down in their six yard box and almost scoring, blocking it and it going out for a goal-kick. That’s as important as putting in a block tackle in in your own penalty box because it just stops their momentum and gives us a chance to get up to be shown."
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Except as it stands today Laurent has just one year left on the contract he signed when he joined Stoke from Reading in 2022 and there are whispers about interest from overseas. Last year it was Frosinone in Italy, this summer there are two: Paphos, the Cypriot team competing in the Europa League, and Gaziantep, from the Turkish top flight.
It is understandable for any 29-year-old to want to consider their long-term future and what is best for themselves, their career and their family.
Stoke will want to be sure what is happening as quickly as possible. It is a safe bet that Plan A is keeping Laurent and tasking him with delivering the performance levels he hit in the spring over the course of a 46-game season. He started 29 league games in 2022/23 and 30 last term and a leading player needs to feature more than that - and changing games more with goals and assists too, as well as the closing down of goalkeepers and defenders.
If an offer comes in that is tempting, like it might for any player, or Laurent is wooed by sunnier climes, then it would leave a hole in the squad that Stoke would need to be smart to fill.
There is no shortage on numbers in central midfield at the moment, but Lewis Baker and Daniel Johnson were being faded out as the season went on rather than coming to the fore. Sol Sidibe will step up but Ben Pearson is probably out until October and will still need time to find his feet then. Luke Cundle has already gone back to parent club Wolves and it remains to be seen what happens next with him.
All of a sudden it feels like a department which could be in flux, and Schumacher and sporting director Jon Walters will want to get into a place as quickly as possible where they can be sure and happy with what they've got going into a long Championship campaign.
