Stoke City’s five loan players have returned to their parent clubs for talks about what should happen in the next stage of their careers.
Some have had a better time of it than others and Ashley Phillips, aged 19, went back to Tottenham Hotspur with his reputation enhanced and plenty of excitement about his career ahead, even if there is still a lot of development to come.
Andrew Moran and Lewis Koumas got plenty of game time and Ali Al-Hamadi was able to start more games than he has previously had chance at this level and all three will have decisions to make about whether they could go out on loan again next term or find pastures new.
Josh Wilson-Esbrand had endured a difficult time with injuries before he joined Stoke in January and wasn’t able to show his potential before heading back to Manchester City.
Here is the full list of 85 Championship loanees who are in the same boat, with interesting summers ahead. First-year loans are such a gamble that these are the kind of players who will be in demand again with managers and recruitment bosses this window. Phillips is a case in point, having spent the second half of last season at Plymouth Argyle in an important step before he rocked up at Clayton Wood.
There are certainly players in this catalogue who stand out, led by midfielder Lewis O’Brien, who helped Swansea find form to pull away from the relegation zone after joining from Nottingham Forest. The 26-year-old had starred at Huddersfield Town – then Stoke boss Michael O’Neill picked him out as Premier League quality – but has been kicking his heels since joining Forest in 2022, with a botched move to Blackburn and loans at DC United, Los Angeles and Middlesbrough. He has been linked with a move to Valencia, managed by his old Huddersfield boss Carlos Corberan.
There are high hopes for 20-year-old attacking midfielder Will Alves at his parent club Leicester. He gave glimpses of his dribbling quality in a struggling Cardiff side.
Full-back Kaine Kesler-Hayden, aged 22, won a clean sweep of player of the year awards at Preston North End. That was his fifth loan spell away from Aston Villa, having previously spent time at Swindon, MK Dons, Huddersfield and Plymouth.
North End chief executive Peter Ridsdale said this week: “I am told that he is unlikely to stay at Villa, and they will command a very big transfer fee for him – which, we seem to be very good at generating for other clubs but we get criticised for that. We do good loans and then we get criticised; it is part and parcel of the process.”
Southampton midfielder Shea Charles – a favourite of O’Neill with Northern Ireland – impressed alongside his goalkeeper brother Pierce at Sheffield Wednesday and was named player of the season. The 21-year-old was also nominated for the Championship young player of the year award.
Wednesday boss Danny Rohl said: “I am convinced he has a great career ahead of him in the top division.”
Ben Doak, aged 19, was an exciting winger for Middlesbrough, borrowed from Liverpool, but he missed the second half of the season due to injury.
West Ham prospect George Earthy, aged 20, helped Bristol City qualify for the play-offs. He was in and out and used from the bench initially but got stronger as the season went on and ended up forming an excellent attacking midfield partnership with Max Bird.
"I think George has been outstanding for us," said Bristol City head coach Liam Manning. "You look at a lot of players, especially young lads going on first loans from Premier League teams, they don't always go that great. I think it speaks volumes about him and his character.”
Republic of Ireland youth centre-back James Abankwah was on Stoke’s radar last summer but ended up joining Watford in January from their owner Giampaolo Pozzo’s Italian club Udinese. The powerful 21-year-old was outstanding in a draw at Stoke in March and Tom Cleverley wanted him back next term – but Cleverley was then given the boot.
Cleverley also wanted a return for Caleb Wiley, a 20-year-old left-back signed from Chelsea.
Spurs hopeful Yang Min-hyeok, a 19-year-old South Korea international, caught the eye of Championship watchers as he made his first steps in English senior football in the second half of the season with Queens Park Rangers. He scored twice, including one at Stoke.
Players returning from Championship loans
Goalkeepers
Mark Travers (Middlesbrough from Bournemouth)
James Beadle (Sheffield Wednesday from Brighton)
Defenders
Dion Sanderson (Blackburn from Birmingham)
Owen Beck (Blackburn from Liverpool)
Bashir Humphreys (Burnley from Chelsea)
Nat Phillips (Derby from Liverpool)
Finley Burns (Hull from Man City)
Kal Naismith (Luton from Bristol City)
Ryan Giles (Middlesbrough from Hull)
Zak Sturge (Millwall from Chelsea)
Calum Scanlon (Millwall from Liverpool)
Callum Doyle (Norwich City from Man City)
Ben Nelson (Leicester City from Oxford)
Nikola Katic (Plymouth Argyle from Zürich)
Tymoteusz Puchacz (Plymouth Argyle from Holstein Kiel)
Rob Atkinson (Portsmouth from Bristol City)
Kaine Kesler-Hayden (Preston from Aston Villa)
Ryan Porteous (Preston from Watford)
Jayden Meghoma (Preston from Brentford)
Ronnie Edwards (QPR from Southampton)
Harrison Ashby (QPR from Newcastle)
Harry Souttar (Sheffield United from Leicester)
Alfie Gilchrist (Sheffield United from Chelsea)
Harry Clarke (Sheffield United from Ipswich)
Rob Holding (Sheffield United from Crystal Palace)
Josh Wilson-Esbrand (Stoke from Man City)
Ashley Phillips (Stoke from Tottenham)
Chris Mepham (Sunderland from Bournemouth)
Hannes Delcroix (Swansea from Burnley)
Yasser Larouci (Watford from Troyes)
James Abankwah (Watford from Udinese)
Paddy McNair (West Brom from San Diego)
Mason Holgate (West Brom from Everton)
Midfielders
George Earthy (Bristol City from West Ham)
Will Alves (Cardiff from Leicester)
Sivert Mannsverk (Cardiff from Ajax)
David Ozoh (Derby from Crystal Palace)
Harrison Armstrong (Derby from Everton)
Marcus Harness (Derby from Ipswich)
Gustavo Puerta (Hull from Bayer Leverkusen)
Lincoln (Hull from Fenerbache)
Joe Rothwell (Leeds from Bournemouth)
Josh Bowler (Luton from Nottingham Forest)
Ryan Wintle (Millwall from Cardiff)
Jacob Wright (Norwich from Man City)
Alex Matos (Oxford from Chelsea)
Darko Gyabi (Plymouth from Leeds)
Isaac Hayden (Portsmouth from Newcastle)
Freddie Potts (Portsmouth from West Ham)
Adil Aouchiche (Portsmouth from Sunderland)
Sam Greenwood (Preston from Leeds)
Karamoko Dembele (QPR from Brest)
Hamza Choudhury (Sheffield United from Leicester City)
Shea Charles (Sheffield Wednesday from Southampton)
Andrew Moran (Stoke from Brighton)
Enzo Le Fee (Sunderland from Roma)
Salis Abdul Samed (Sunderland from Lens)
Lewis O'Brien (Swansea from Nottingham Forest)
Forwards
Amario Cozier-Duberry (Blackburn from Brighton)
Cauley Woodrow (Blackburn from Luton)
Jeremy Sarmiento (Burnley from Brighton)
Marcus Edwards (Burnley from Sporting Lisbon)
Jaidon Anthony (Burnley from Bournemouth)
Jerry Yates (Derby County from Swansea)
Joe Gelhardt (Hull from Leeds United)
Louie Barry (Hull from Aston Villa)
Manor Solomon (Leeds from Tottenham)
Samuel Iling-Junior (Middlesbrough from Aston Villa)
Kelechi Iheanacho (Middlesbrough from Sevilla)
Ben Doak (Middlesbrough from Liverpool)
Josh Coburn (Millwall from Middlesbrough)
Lewis Dobbin (Norwich from Aston Villa)
Muhamed Tijani (Plymouth from Slavia Prague)
Michael Obafemi (Plymouth from Burnley)
Kaide Gordon (Portsmouth from Liverpool)
Mark O'Mahony (Portsmouth from Brighton)
Koki Saito (QPR from Lommel)
Min-hyeok Yang (QPR from Tottenham)
Jesurun Rak-Sakyi (Sheffield United from Crystal Palace)
Ben Brereton Diaz (Sheffield United from Southampton)
Ibrahim Cissoko (Plymouth from Toulouse)
Lewis Koumas (Stoke from Liverpool)
Ali Al-Hamadi (Stoke from Ipswich)
Jayden Danns (Sunderland from Liverpool)
Myles Peart-Harris (Swansea from Brentford)
Adam Armstrong (West Brom from Southampton)
Will Lankshear (West Brom from Tottenham)
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