Stoke City diehards and teammates bombard Tom Cannon with love as transfer rivals circle
Stoke City supporters and teammates have been swarming Tom Cannon with love as Sheffield United try to tempt him into a January switch.
Cannon, aged 22, has already played considerably more minutes on loan at Stoke in 2024/25 than he has ever previously posted in his senior career, finding his rhythm to score 11 times already, including from the spot in an FA Cup third round win at Sunderland on Saturday.
But his form has alerted suitors and it is believed Sheff Utd are ready to spend a big chunk of their parachute payments to try to sign him permanently from Leicester this month. The Blades are challenging for promotion to the Premier League but in the midst of a takeover that will cast uncertainty on the future of boss Chris Wilder.
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Cannon is desperate to play as much as possible at this stage of his career, having been frustrated by the time he spent kicking his heels on the sidelines at Leicester as they won promotion last term. He has been loving that platform at Stoke, who would need a change in Profit and Sustainability Rules to be able to bid to keep him permanently in the summer.
The response to a photograph of his celebration at the Stadium of Light hinted at his popularity in the changing room, with hearts and flames coming from Million Manhoef and Lynden Gooch, Andrew Moran, Lewis Koumas, Emre Tezgel and Lewis Koumas.
Stoke fans have been bombarding the club's social media too with messages such as: "He's found his home."
Sarah Wilsh said: "Please Stoke City, listen to your fans and do whatever it takes to buy Tom Cannon for us."
Djmidge1 said: "We need to sign him permanently."
m.camp17 said: "Splash the cash, file for bankruptcy if you have to, fight grannies, sell your sister, donate kidneys, do whatever it takes to keep this man beyond this season."
Mark Nixon said: "Just get him signed."
Luke said: "Pay Leicester whatever they want."
Yvette Boddy said: "Must keep Cannon. I wonder if there is a player whose surname is Ball? That would be a good partnership."
Jack McGraw said: "We need to snap Cannon up asap."
Tim Porter said: "Sign Cannon up!"
Jon Maddock said: "We need to keep him."
Mark Robins, who has recalled Nathan Lowe from a loan at Walsall, has built success as a manager by getting at least one leading striker scoring goals consistently.
The new boss said last week: “Tom’s been good all the way through (the season). Sometimes the service has been a little bit sparse between chances and we’ve got to try to get to a point when chances are coming and he’ll finish.
“He’s a certain type of striker where he’ll find space off the back and he’ll run. We saw that (against Plymouth) when he nearly got in and when he (had a collision with the goalkeeper) and I thought he’d got on the end of that and he always gets across people well.
“He understands the game. He’s only 22 and he’s a really good young player.”
