Ashley Phillips’ unlikely return to Stoke City means there will be a hole to fill at centre-back next season. And in looking to the future, perhaps Stoke should look to the past first. Because one man who could be available is former centre-half Harry Souttar.
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Following Leicester City’s relegation to League One, an exodus is expected at the King Power Stadium. They need cash to cope with the loss of Championship broadcast revenue, and so Souttar could be available for far cheaper than he would usually be.
Stoke sold the Australian international to the Foxes for £15m in January 2023 and he’s had a torrid time since. However, it now looks like being over.
After 16 months out, he returned to play the final two games of Leicester’s season as they ended the campaign with a draw against Millwall in which Souttar scored, and a win over Blackburn, the big centre-back contributing to a rare clean sheet.
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That was enough for Souttar to get the call-up to a Socceroos training camp and Souttar now looks a strong contender to head to the World Cup.
Australia manager Tony Popovic said: “When you don’t play for 16 months and you can produce not just the results – they had a draw and a win with Harry in the team – but if you watch him perform and you watch those two games, there is presence, there is aura, there is a leader.
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“He’s shown the resilience and mentality that you need at a World Cup. Because you need to be able to suffer. You need to be able to go through tough times. He’s done that in their own personal journey.”
The leadership comment is most interesting, as it’s exactly what Mark Robins is looking for this summer.
The Stoke boss said at the start of the month: “What I would like us to do is get a really good, robust team together that will run and can run and is prepared to run, prepared to fight.
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“When you go away to Charlton next year you have to be able to cope with that, not just hoping to play really good football to beat someone without having too much physical contact. That’s not what we have been about. I’m looking for aggression, whether that be physical, mental or having that real desire and that comes into the leadership category.”
The question mark would be over Souttar’s fitness and the potential for serious injuries to spring up again. He had an ACL tear just before the last World Cup, and before he was sold by Stoke, while it was a ruptured Achilles that kept him out for over a year this time.
Sheffield United, where the 27-year-old was on loan before that injury, are likely to be keen again and perhaps that will raise the price-tag. Even so, given what Stoke need and what Robins wants, bringing Souttar back may be worth considering.
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