League One clubs set for battle over young Stoke City hot shot

Summer transfer window will see Stoke City have to make a decision on what is best next for Nathan Lowe

Wycombe Wanderers and Huddersfield Town are the first two teams associated with Nathan Lowe if Stoke City approves a loan for next season.

Lowe, 19, sprang to prominence as one of the EFL’s hottest young players after an outstanding first half of last season with Walsall, where he scored 18 goals and helped them finish first in League Two, despite missing out on promotion.

He spent the second half of the season with Stoke due to injuries and circumstances, getting another taste of life in the Championship but not playing enough – and as Mark Robins prepares to welcome him back for pre-season training later this month, suitors are lining up in League One.

According to the Bucks Free Press, Wycombe and Huddersfield are “leading the way”.

Huddersfield believed they had signed him in January, only for Lowe to be needed by Stoke when he returned, and loan rules prohibit a player from appearing for three clubs in the same season. They are now led by former Stoke City goalkeeper Lee Grant, who earned a reputation for his work with strikers when coaching at Ipswich Town, and are set to compete for promotion in 2025/26.

Wycombe are led by Mike Dodds, and they just lost in the play-off semi-finals. It remains to be seen what happens with their leading scorer, Richard Kone, this summer.

Stoke are expected to receive a few calls from League One clubs in the coming weeks, with goalkeeper Tommy Simkin and attacker Emre Tezgel, assuming he signs a new contract, also in the running for a loan move.
Simkin, 20, enjoyed a successful full season at Walsall and has joined England’s under-21s for a pre-European Championships training camp. He has been picked to the final squad today. Tezgel, 19, has been ranked as highly as Lowe throughout his career and is poised to take off once he has a platform.

However, all Stoke players will get an opportunity to fight their way into Robins’ plans when they report back for business at Clayton Wood on June 26.