Opinion: Stoke City will surely have to field January transfer bids for 24-year-old following FIFA World Cup | OneFootball

If there’s one thing Stoke City have been good at in recent years – and it’s not performances on the pitch to put them in a promotion battle in the Championship – it is their ability to bring through young players and put them in a position where they can flourish in the first-team.

The Potters have used their actual academy, plus their under-21’s squad, to develop some talented youngsters who have since been given opportunities in the EFL.

Currently, there’s the likes of Josef Bursik and Tyrese Campbell who have graduated from the under-18’s and into the first-team, and players such as Emre Tezgel and Nathan Lowe are trying to follow in their footsteps.

Then there are individuals who Stoke have signed elsewhere as teenagers and developed themselves like Josh Tymon, and one other player that fits that category having arrived in the Potteries from Dundee United in 2016 is Harry Souttar.

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Stoke were founded in 1863

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The towering defender already had senior appearances north of the border to his name by the time he made the switch to Stoke, but he went into the under-23’s when he arrived and also played in the FA Youth Cup.

Souttar would of course head out on loan moves to Ross County and Fleetwood Town from 2018 onwards, but having been afforded a chance by Michael O’Neill at the start of the 2020-21 season, the centre-back has never looked back.

Souttar’s young career hasn’t been without its setbacks though, and a major one came last November when he damaged his anterior cruciate ligament when playing for Australia against Saudi Arabia, putting him out of action for 11 months.

Before that happened, Souttar was being courted by Premier League clubs, with Aston Villa and Everton just two of the names who had been watching him in action prior to his injury – it seemed as though he was destined for the bright lights of the top flight in January 2022.

After a long lay-off, Souttar returned to under-21’s action in October and then made his first senior Stoke appearance in a year when he was named as a starter against Luton Town earlier this month – and he was back to his imperious best as the Potters ran out 2-0 winners, with Souttar playing all 90 minutes.

There was obvious skepticism over his fitness going into the FIFA World Cup, but Souttar started for the Socceroos in their opening group contest against France, and despite having to come up against the mercurial Olivier Giroud, he won three of his four aerial duels in the match and of course pinged a delightful 50-yard ball into the path of Matthew Leckie, who crossed for Craig Goodwin to open the scoring.

Even though four goals were conceded, Souttar has no reason to be downhearted, and with easier tests on paper against Tunisia and Denmark coming up, it is a good chance for him to showcase his skills to the world again.

Stoke aren’t stupid though – Souttar’s performances on the global stage could open up a bidding war in January and create the kind of interest that was there pre-injury in 2021, and he may end up getting the move he was looking likely to get nearly a year ago.

Alex Neil of course will want to keep hold of one of his star players, but it would be hard to stand in the way of Souttar progressing – especially if an eight-figure bid arrives.