The young Anfield winger will hope for an enjoyable end to the Championship campaign
Barry Cooper Hull City correspondent
13:00, 29 Jan 2026
Ex-City man Jarrod Bowen battles for the ball with Lewis Koumas at Wembley back in October
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Ex-City man Jarrod Bowen battles for the ball with Lewis Koumas at Wembley back in October(Image: Kevin Hodgson/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Hull City have snapped up Lewis Koumas on loan from reigning Premier League champions Liverpool, with the Wales international set to arrive on loan for the remainder of the season.
City boss Sergej Jakirovic has been keen to bring in Koumas previously, having been close in the summer before the winger joined Birmingham City.
The move bears a striking resemblance to the one involving Toby Collyer. Like Koumas, Collyer was close to a move to the MKM Stadium in the summer, but opted to go to West Brom instead. Now, the pair have arrived at City, aiming to propel the club to promotion back to the Premier League.
Over two spells in the Championship, Koumas has played 66 times for Stoke City and Birmingham City. Last season, he notched 49 outings for the Potters, and this term, he's played 25 times for the Blues in league and cup. The Wales international netted six times and registered three assists last season, with just one goal this season, though did come earlier this month in the win over Coventry City.
To find out a little more about what City fans can expect from the versatile attacking youngster, Hull Live spoke to Stoke City reporter at The Sentinel, Pete Smith, and Blues correspondent Alex Dicken from Birmingham Live...
His record at Stoke looked good. What was he like?
It was fine for what he and Liverpool will have seen as a springboard. I think across the Championship we’ve all seen the ups and downs of first senior loans. He had glimpses when he looked like a potential match-winner, with acceleration and direct play. He also didn’t quite have consistency and there were spells when he lacked confidence.
It was probably a disadvantage for Koumas that he got a decent amount of game time through those difficult spells. Stoke’s squad was stretched, and they had to lean on him more than was justified. I remember saying at the time that if he’d had half the minutes, there would have been more excitement about his potential.
How did he fit into the club, the squad and the system?
He played mostly in wide roles in a 4-2-3-1 and, with socks around his ankles, he liked to run with the ball. He was at his best when there was lots of energy and movement around him.
It was a shame that we didn’t see more of him in a central role. He was electric on his debut in the middle against West Brom and he had the will and speed to try to get in behind their defence. Then-Stoke boss Steven Schumacher was saying the wing was his natural position, but even so.
There was an acrobatic goal against Bristol City, but, unfortunately, just as memorable was when he lost concentration off the ball against Coventry. I can still hear Mark Robins’ voice ripping paint off the changing room wall at half-time.
How would you assess his overall time at the bet365 Stadium?
He played under four managers, including a caretaker, and in a team that was struggling at the wrong end of the Championship in his first taste of regular senior football.
We know enough not to write off teenagers who don’t hit the high notes every week in those circumstances but also it was clear it wasn’t a sure thing that, with that experience in the bank, he’d go to Birmingham and rip everything up. There’s something in there and he’s only 20 with 66 Championship appearances behind him. He left Stoke with no one quite sure of what the future would hold or how quickly anyone could be certain about it. We can probably say the same now.
After spending last season in the Potteries, there was no shortage of interest in him during the summer, including from the Tigers, but it was Birmingham City who secured his services.
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Here, Alex Dicken from Birmingham Live assesses what he's seen from Koumas during the first half of the season with Blues
There was some excitement when Koumas joined, largely because of the club he was joining from and his steady first loan at Stoke in the Championship. Koumas was expected to kick on. It always seemed unlikely that he would force his way into Blues' XI given that Demarai Gray was signed to play in his preferred left-wing position and so it proved.
Gray quickly became one of Blues' best attackers and Koumas never really got a look-in. Even when Gray was rested or injured, Chris Davies turned to the reliable Keshi Anderson over Koumas. He clearly saw something in Koumas; he liked his running power and his intensity in the press.
But he didn't trust him to start games until Blues were really down to the bare bones in the New Year. It was always likely to be the case that he would depart after Blues got a new winger in. I think there's a player in there, we just didn't see enough of it at St Andrew's for anyone's liking.
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