Stoke City should target Luton Town transfer for player with existing Potters connection | OneFootball

The Potters should seek a reunion with Luton striker Jacob Brown, two years on from his exit

Stoke City are in need of multiple striker additions in the upcoming summer transfer window to improve on their poor scoring record from last season, and so should look to bring in previous fan-favourite forward Jacob Brown following Luton Town's surprise relegation to League One.

The Potters were able to seal their survival with a draw at Derby County on the final day of the Championship campaign at the start of May, and planning will be well underway for next term as Mark Robins aims to make major improvements to his squad in the hope of progressing further up the table.

Stoke's striker situation is clearly one that needs to be addressed as soon as possible in the summer window, following a season of uncertainty and inconsistency in forward areas that led the club to be the joint-second lowest scorers in the division by the time all was said and done.

Robins currently has just two under-contract senior strikers at his disposal heading into pre-season, in Sam Gallagher and Nathan Lowe, and so additions are desperately needed if they are to have a strong, settled squad in August.

A loan move for former Potter Brown, who has struggled for form with Luton and needs a new club to revive his stalling career, would surely make a lot of sense from both an off and on-pitch point of view.

Jacob Brown became a Stoke favourite after 2020 move from Barnsley

Brown arrived in the Potteries as a relatively unknown right-winger from boyhood club Barnsley in September 2020, as Stoke paid around £2 million for his services and handed him a three-year contract at 22-years-old.

He was effective in his debut campaign at the club under Michael O'Neill, and registered six goals and one assist in 46 appearances in all competitions, but it was in his second season that he really began to turn on the style in red and white.

Brown netted on the opening day of the 2021/22 campaign against Reading, and his strong early-season form under Alex Neil saw him earn a maiden call-up to the Scotland national team in November 2021.

He continued his fine form into the new year, despite Stoke's drop-off from genuine play-off contenders to a mid-table finish, and he finished his second term at the bet365 Stadium with 14 goals and five assists in 52 appearances in all competitions.

That figure became the highest goals total in a single season for a Potters player since relegation in 2018, and has remained so in the three years since.

By the end of that campaign, he had earned cult-hero status among Stoke supporters, and was duly voted as their 2021/22 Player of the Season.

His goal return took a slight dip in his third and final season at the club, with nine strikes in 42 appearances in 2022/23, but he remained a key player and so was the subject of transfer attention heading into the 2023 summer window.

Brown has struggled with Luton - he is still a good Championship forward and Stoke should seek a reunion

Newly-promoted Premier League side Luton moved to sign Brown in August 2023 for a fee believed to be a 'significant profit' on what the Potters had paid for him three years previously. His emotional message to Stoke fans on social media made it clear how much he knew he owed to the club.

The Halifax-born striker was understandably overjoyed at the move, stating that he was "over the moon" to be living out "every kid’s dream" of playing in the English top-flight, but while he showed glimpses of the talent and determination that got him to that point in his career, he largely struggled to make an impact as the Hatters were relegated back to the Championship nine months later.

He saw his debut campaign at Kenilworth Road curtailed early by a serious knee injury, after two goals in 19 Premier League appearances, and he was only able to fully recover by the start of last October to take part in their second-tier return.

The Hatters' last season never truly got going under either Rob Edwards or Matt Bloomfield, and Brown's struggles were indicative of their woes as a squad, as he started just 11 league games amid fitness and form issues, then again saw his campaign end early through injury in March.

He was unable to help save Luton from a shock successive drop to League One, and just two years on from his dream Premier League transfer, he is surely in line for another switch, either on loan or on a permanent deal away from Kenilworth Road.

The 27-year-old recently admitted that he "loved" his time with Stoke, and so would surely be open to a move back to the bet365 Stadium this summer if the opportunity arises, and he is deemed fit enough to make an impact in the Championship again.

From a Potters point of view, a reunion with Brown on a likely loan deal feels like a no-brainer right now. He knows the club well, already has a strong relationship with their supporters, and would provide some much-needed pace, agility and scoring prowess to Robins' currently lacking forward line.

The Stoke boss' main concern would likely be the versatile attacker's aforementioned fitness and injury issues, but given that he suffered his injury back in mid-March, and his recent Instagram post shows him seemingly quite far along on the comeback trail, that should not be a problem come the start of the new season in August.

Out of context, the 27-year-old's scoring record at Luton has left a lot to be desired, but he has played through injury and been a part of two relegation squads in both of his seasons at the club so far, so a return of seven goals in 24 starts and 52 appearances is arguably a lot better than it initially seems on paper.

The Potters are in desperate need of new strikers this summer, and so should pounce at the opportunity to re-sign an old fan-favourite in Brown in the months to come, if the League One-bound Hatters are open to his departure.