Huddersfield Town & Stockport County wait for Stoke City transfer breakthrough - big development could come this week | OneFootball

Stoke City are set to decide the future of Nathan Lowe, with League One rivals Stockport County and Huddersfield Town interested in a loan move.

With the League One season closing in, two of the teams that are widely deemed as likely to be in the automatic promotion race, Huddersfield Town and Stockport County, are having to wait on Stoke City to make a decision about Nathan Lowe.

Huddersfield endured a very difficult second-half to last season as they collapsed into the middle-of-the-table with Michael Duff sacked in mid-March.

Since then, the Terriers have embarked upon a very busy and ambitious summer transfer window that has seen then bring in the likes of Alfie May, Ryan Ledson and Marcus Harness among many other seemingly stellar talents for the third-tier. They have also made the bold and unexpected appointment of rookie boss Lee Grant.

Stockport, on the other hand, are attempting to build from where they left off after they reached the play-off semi-finals in their first season back in the third-tier in well over a decade.

The Hatters, under the management of Dave Challinor, will be again expected to challenge for promotion this season and continue their consistent upward trajectory with Challinor at the helm.

Both teams have already made big signings this summer, but both are also still keen on adding more firepower to their attack with the pursuit of Lowe.

Stoke to decide Lowe’s future with Huddersfield and Stockport keen

According to Alan Nixon, via his Patreon, Stoke City are deciding where to send out young striker Nathan Lowe on a loan deal, with League One rivals Huddersfield Town and Stockport County awaiting the Potters’ decision.

It has been reported that Huddersfield have been in talks with Stoke for a while now, and that they were even interested in bringing him in on a permanent basis.

That hasn’t come to fruition, though, as Stoke, now managed by Mark Robins, rate him too highly to sell and are preparing to send him out from the Bet365 Stadium on another temporary deal.

Stockport are said to be Huddersfield’s leading rivals for Lowe’s signature, with Nixon reporting that both clubs may get the chance to make a full pitch to the player as soon as this week.

Further reports from Pete O'Rourke on X have indicated that Stockport are in "advanced talks" over a loan deal with Stoke for Lowe, and that there's growing confidence they can land their man despite other EFL interest that you'd presume to be Huddersfield.

Lowe was sent out on loan to Walsall in League Two last summer, and he helped the Saddlers go way clear at the top-of-the-table with 15 goals in 22 league games, before his recall in mid-January, which then began a spiral from Walsall that saw them miss out on the top three altogether, as well as then losing the play-off final to AFC Wimbledon.

Stockport and Huddersfield appear already stacked in attack

Earlier this summer, Stockport pushed the boat out already to bring in a striker in the form of Malik Mothersille, who arrived at Edgeley Park for a club-record fee from Peterborough United.

As well as Mothersille, Challinor’s attack also boasts the likes of Kyle Wootton, who hit double figures for goals in League One last season, and 19-year-old Icelandic striker Benony Breki Andresson, who joined from Knattspyrnufelag Reykjavikur in the winter transfer window and went on to become a threat from off the bench in the second-half of the campaign. They have, though, sold Isaac Olaofe to Charlton Athletic this summer.

As for the Terriers, they purchased both Dion Charles and Joe Taylor from Bolton Wanderers and Lincoln City in January, in ambitious moves that supplemented Duff’s attack.

Grant has also been granted the £1.2 million addition of Alfie May from Birmingham City, with Freddie Ladapo, Bojan Radulovic and Rhys Healey all also still at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Despite both teams already appearing well stocked in the final third, Lowe is of such highly-rated promise that both clubs are still chasing him as they seek to mount title challenges in League One next season.