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Assist hat-trick, youth football, return to Stoke - Where Stoke City midfield from last season is now
Josh Laurent will return to Stoke City this weekend for the first time since his exit late in the summer transfer window.
The 29-year-old midfielder was in the last year of his contract at the bet365 Stadium and had shown glimpses of his potential in the Championship without being able to maintain his top level consistently. He had taken over from Lewis Baker as captain in 2023 but handed the armband over to Ben Gibson a year later before his exit to Burnley for an undisclosed fee believed to be worth up to £1 million.
He has gone on to make six starts and seven sub appearances under Scott Parker, coming back into the team last night for a 2-0 home win over Coventry - replacing injured Josh Brownhill - that puts his new side second in the table, two points behind leaders Sheffield United. The Clarets have won three on the spin and no side in the top four divisions has kept more than their 11 clean sheets so far this term.
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His departure was part of an overhaul of Stoke's 2023/24 midfield department and some players have gone had to had more success than others in the following few months.
Baker, aged 29, moved to Blackburn Rovers on loan until the end of the season, when his contract is up at Stoke. He has made two league starts so far under John Eustace, as well as four appearances from the bench. He scored his first Blackburn goal in a 3-1 win at Cardiff before the international break.
Daniel Johnson, aged 32, had to move to the Turkish second tier to get back on the pitch. He joined Fatih Karagümrük, where he plays alongside Wesley, who also left Stoke in the summer, and their new club currently sit third in the chase for promotion. Wesley has already struck 11 goals in 13 appearances - more than he had scored in the previous five years added together since leaving Club Brugge for Aston Villa, then on loan back to Brugge, Internacional in Brazil, Levante in Spain and Stoke.
Johnson got a hat-trick of assists in their last match, a 3-1 win over Erzurumspor, including setting up a goal for Wesley, and he wrote on social media: "Note to self: Never lose faith, just believe and trust the process. Glory to the most high."
Wolves set a high price tag for Luke Cundle, aged 22, when he returned for pre-season following loans under Steven Schumacher with Plymouth Argyle and then Stoke - so he stayed put and has remained in limbo.
He is yet to play for Wolves' first team, sitting on the bench three times as an unused sub in the Premier League, and has instead found game time back with their under-21s. He started a 2-2 draw in the National League Cup - a tournament for National League sides plus Premier League 2 under-21s teams, including Stoke - against Oldham Athletic earlier this month, going up against Sam Clucas. Wolves won 4-2 on penalties. Cundle also played in a 3-0 EFL Trophy defeat to Wrexham, where he went up against James McClean and Steven Fletcher.
