Stoke City enjoyed a fruitful summer window with some key targets brought into the club, and they are set to be busy again in the January window with Steven Schumacher aiming high in his first full season in charge.
The Potters have not finished in the top-half of the Championship since relegation in 2018, but are seeking to change that with numerous new additions throughout the summer that should improve the squad this season.
The likes of Viktor Johansson, Ben Gibson and Bosun Lawal all joined the club, while Stoke explored the Premier League loan market with Lewis Koumas, Ashley Phillips and Tom Cannon all arriving from Liverpool, Spurs and Leicester City respectively.
Schumacher also moved to bring in Andrew Moran from Brighton to fill a gap as the most advanced midfielder in his system, and failed to land former Wolves loanee Luke Cundle, but while Moran has started well with the Potters this season, he could very possibly see his minutes limited come January after fresh reports around Stoke’s second pursuit of Cundle recently emerged.
Stoke want Luke Cundle to provide competition to Andrew Moran
Cundle began last season on loan at Plymouth Argyle under Schumacher, but had his spell with the Greens cut short in January to move to Stoke for the final months of the season, after he had been identified as a top target by the Liverpool-born boss who had made the same switch just a month earlier.
The 22-year-old had a quiet start to life in North Staffordshire, but soon became a key player in the season’s run-in as Stoke crucially avoided the Championship drop, thanks, in part, to his two goals and two assists in the final four league games.
Stoke were constantly linked to his signature throughout the summer, with his minutes set to be limited in the top-flight with Wolves, but a permanent deal never materialised, despite reportedly being close, and he has remained at the Molineux club past the deadline.
Prior to the week of the deadline, Stoke had seemingly decided to move onto other targets in case a move for Cundle did not happen, and it was a smart move, in hindsight, to wrap up a deal for Brighton youngster Moran on August 16, with his talents clear after an impressive temporary stint at Blackburn Rovers last season.
It seemed as if Stoke’s pursuit of Cundle was over after that summer saga and Moran’s decent start to life in the Potteries, but that has been revealed to not be the case with the Potters reportedly keen to sign him in the January window, according to transfer guru Alan Nixon.
While it remains to be seen whether he will definitely join Stoke when he is able to move in the new year, if a deal does finally happen, it will not be good news for Moran or his parent club, with his minutes likely to be reduced for the second half of the season.
Cundle’s potential arrival could spell trouble for Moran and Brighton
When a young loan player with aspirations to play in their parent club’s first-team leaves on loan, it is vital for them to get consistent game-time, and Brighton will have had that same aim for Moran this season when allowing him to join Stoke rather than another club, especially after he started fewer games than he would both parties would have liked at Ewood Park last term.
Moran certainly impressed for Rovers when he did play, with two goals and six assists in 35 Championship appearances, but his influence on the team began to lessen as time went on, and he started just one of the final 17 games of the season.
Both Moran and Brighton will have been looking for a better guarantee of minutes at Stoke as a result of that spell, and seem to be getting their wish so far this season after he came into the side for the EFL Cup second round trip to Middlesbrough and notched three assists on his first Potters start.
That outing saw him retain his starting berth for the league game at Plymouth, and he looks likely to continue in Schumacher’s midfield for the foreseeable future, but the potential arrival of Cundle in January could see a repeat of his time at Blackburn, with the Wolves man a very similar profile of player to the 20-year-old, and clearly well-trusted by Schumacher to provide goals and assists in his system.
Cundle is older and more experienced than Moran in the Championship, after spending 2022/23 on loan at Swansea City, and the compared statistics of their respective 2023/24 seasons do not make good reading for the Republic of Ireland under-21 international if both of them are in the squad come January.
| Luke Cundle vs Andrew Moran 2023/24 Championship statistics | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appearances | Starts | Goals | Assists | Progressive passes per 90 | Shots on target % | Pass completion % | Goal-creating actions per 90 | |
| Luke Cundle (Plymouth & Stoke) | 40 | 24 | 5 | 7 | 4.92 | 42.4% | 82.9% | 0.41 |
| Andrew Moran (Blackburn) | 35 | 19 | 2 | 6 | 6.02 | 29.6% | 75.8% | 0.39 |
| Stats as per FBref | ||||||||
Only time will tell whether Moran becomes a key part of Schumacher’s side going forward, but with new developments since his arrival, he will need to produce some of the best form of his career so far if he is to oust Cundle from the team if he joins in the January window.
