Exclusive: Stoke City hailed for "steal" of a signing from Huddersfield Town | OneFootball

Speaking exclusively to FLW, Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie has given his verdict on Stoke City's in-form winger, who's been star turn for the Potters.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie has given his verdict on Stoke City winger Sorba Thomas and his explosive start to the 2025-26 season.

With two games played, the Championship has surprise leaders in the form of Stoke City.

Stoke, who haven't finished above 14th in the division since their 2018 relegation from the Premier League, have won both their matches so far in an extremely impressive way, beating Derby County 3-1 on the opening weekend of the season and following that up with a 3-0 away win against Sheffield Wednesday.

Stoke, then, sit at the top of table on goal difference from Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion, as one of the only three teams to have got through their opening two matches without dropping a point, and one of their star turns so far this season has been winger Sorba Thomas, who joined the club from Huddersfield Town during the summer, having spent the 2024-25 season on loan with the French club Nantes.

"A steal of a signing": Lee Hendrie believes that Sorba Thomas can find himself at Stoke

Football League World have spoken exclusively to Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie about Thomas's start to the season, and he is full of praise for the winger. "Sorba Thomas has been in great form at the start of the season for Stoke", he told us, "I remember when he had a really good season, or couple of seasons, at Huddersfield, and I felt that he could go and kick on."

Hendrie believes that Thomas is now showing the potential that he showed in flashes at his previous club: "I feel that maybe the penny's dropped again, and he's getting back to that sort of form and that shape that he was in, because he is a fantastic player delivery-wise, his creativity obviously shone, and it's doing so this season."

But he also feels that Thomas is working with the right manager, in the form of the Stoke manager Mark Robins: "He's got to keep that up. I think that this would be a steal of a signing if they continue getting the best out of him, and I'm sure they will, under Mark Robins."

Sorba Thomas has shone in the Championship so far this season for Stoke

Sorba Thomas joined Stoke from Huddersfield Town in the summer for an undisclosed free transfer in July, having spent last season on loan in Ligue Un with Nantes. The winger, who signed for them in 2021 from non-league Boreham Wood, also spent half of the 2022-23 season on loan at Blackburn Rovers after falling from favour with the then-Rovers head coach Mark Fotheringham. He's also won 11 caps for the Wales national team.

Thomas was a popular player among Huddersfield fans, and there may well be some hints of regret among them at having lost the player to Stoke and seeing him flourish in the way that he has at the start of this season. But his start in the Potteries has demonstrated why he should be playing in the Championship in the first place, and as Lee Hendrie acknowledges, Stoke fans could have a lot more of it to look forward to, if he can maintain his current run of form.