Stoke City must fear the worst concerning Leicester City, Tom Cannon after Nathan Lowe recall | OneFootball

Lowe's recall from Walsall could be due to Cannon being set to leave the Potters soon

Stoke City have moved to recall Nathan Lowe from his successful loan spell at League Two leaders Walsall and that decision surely means they are fearing the worst concerning Tom Cannon's own loan status at the club, amid serious interest in his services from other Championship clubs.

19-year-old striker Lowe could probably not have dreamt of a better five months out on loan from his boyhood club, with his goals and assists firing Walsall to a likely promotion to League One this season, prior to his surprise recall back to the Potteries being confirmed on Sunday evening.

Lowe is now back and ready to feature in the Championship under recently-appointed Potters manager Mark Robins, but on the face of it, it looks as if he will struggle to get regular gametime behind Stoke's own loan star, Leicester City frontman Cannon, who has bagged 11 goals for the club so far this season.

The Foxes loanee has been the subject of serious interest from numerous fellow second-tier sides in the lead-up to January and over the last two weeks, with the Premier League club reportedly considering exercising their own recall option in his loan deal to then sell him on for a sizeable fee this month.

Whether Stoke are in the know over what decision Leicester are likely to make is unclear at this moment in time, but with the club choosing to bring back their own on-loan hotshot, it certainly feels like they are anticipating Cannon not being at the club come the end of the window.

Nathan Lowe deserves his Stoke chance after impressing at Walsall

Lowe joined Stoke at the age of 10 in 2016, and worked his way through the club's youth ranks to the first team, and was handed his first consistent chances in senior football under Alex Neil and Steven Schumacher last season, amid the team's struggles in front of goal.

He soon scored a dream first senior goal for the Potters, an 89th-minute winner at Bristol City in September, and went on to make 15 appearances in all competitions while being largely used off the bench throughout the rest of his first full campaign.

The 19-year-old joined Walsall late on in the summer window, after Stoke had waited to sign Sam Gallagher from Blackburn Rovers, and made an instant impact with a brace on his first start for the club against Huddersfield Town in the EFL Cup.

Lowe followed that up with his first league goal for the Saddlers just days later, with the opener against Cheltenham Town, and barely looked back in the last few months as Mat Sadler's side made a real challenge at the top of the fourth tier.

His Bescot Stadium exploits included winning the EFL Young Player of the Month award in October, picking up the EFL League Two Player of the Month award for December, and registering a total of 18 goals and seven assists in 30 appearances across all competitions for the club.

The teenage prospect's latest showing in a 5-1 win against Tranmere Rovers, where he bagged a goal and an assist to send the Saddlers 12 points clear at the top of the fourth tier, was clearly enough for Mark Robins to see fit to bring him back to the Potteries, as Stoke confirmed his recall late on Sunday evening.

Walsall's response to their main scoring threat being prised away in the middle of a promotion challenge was nothing short of classy, as the Potters have had to do what they felt was right for both Lowe and the club, and now must justify his recall with ample playing time over the next few months in the second tier.

Said playing time could well be made a lot easier to come by if Cannon is not at the club in two weeks, which is an eventuality that Stoke are clearly preparing themselves for by easing Lowe back into the fold now, rather than rushing to recall him at the end of the month.

Summer loan signing Cannon has been very effective in front of goal for Stoke so far this term and the club cannot afford to lose him in the January window if they wish to improve under boss Robins and not get dragged into a relegation battle this season.

The Potters beat off some very strong competition to secure the Leicester City frontman on loan in the last week of the summer window, and he endured a slow start to life in the Potteries but has proven himself as one of best second-tier marksmen over the last few months, and most of Stoke's positive attacking play flows through him right now.

Cannon has shown great signs of his clinical striking ability and quick movement in the final third, and lots of rumours around his future have recently begun to emerge after crucial developments revealed that he has a recall clause in his loan deal that the Foxes could potentially trigger this month to sell him on for a sizeable fee and leave the Potters short-changed.

The Sun claimed last week that both Sheffield Wednesday and Luton Town are keen on the 22-year-old, but it would need a massive offer to take over his Stoke deal, while transfer journalist Alan Nixon's latest update is that both Sheffield United and promotion rivals Sunderland are looking into a loan-to-buy deal for the Leicester man, with a break clause in his loan at Stoke believed to run out on Wednesday this week.

That means that the situation surrounding his future is likely to need to be settled in a couple of days, which then would also explain why Stoke have made the decision to recall Lowe so suddenly in the middle of the window.

Foxes boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has remained coy around what his club is set to decide on in the coming days but has insisted to LeicestershireLive that "it’s still a possibility" that the Republic of Ireland international stays at the bet365 Stadium for the duration of his initial loan deal.

Whatever does happen regarding Cannon, it is clear that he has been a real success at Stoke this season, but while the Potters would be massively disappointed to lose his services this month, they have their own young talent on their hands in the form of Lowe.

After recalling him from a massively successful spell at Walsall, the 19-year-old now has to be given a chance to stake his claim in Robins' side going forward, regardless of if his striker counterpart is still a Stoke player for the rest of the season.