Mark Robins should be patient when it comes to Stoke City actioning next play in midfielder’s saga
Stoke City midfielder Lewis Baker has now been with the Potters for over three years, but with his contract coming to an end this summer, boss Mark Robins needs to be patient and wait until he has seen more of the 29-year-old before he makes his decision on a new deal.
Stoke’s turbulent campaign shows no signs of getting much better anytime soon right now, with Robins, who was appointed as the club’s third manager of the season last month, needing to be fully focused on keeping his side in the Championship from now until May.
The former Coventry City boss will, however, have numerous key decisions to make come the end of the season, regardless of the division that the Potters might be in, with eight of his current first-team squad all out of contract at the end of June.
Central midfielder Baker is one of the most notable of those, as despite looking set to see out his spell at the bet365 Stadium out on loan at Blackburn Rovers, one of Robins’ first ports of call when he took over was to recall him from his time in East Lancashire.
The 29-year-old is arguably as important as he ever has been for Stoke right now, in the midst of a relegation battle, and as he looks to earn a new deal at the club he has previously played the best football of his career at, his boss needs to wait and see just how much influence he can retain on his side before making his decision on a new deal.
Lewis Baker has had his ups and downs in a Stoke City shirt
Baker had not had a permanent club that appreciated his talents before he joined Stoke, after being stuck in the Chelsea loan-cycle for years and never being able to settle with one team amid notable spells with Vitesse, Leeds United and Trabzonspor.
He arrived in the Potteries in January 2022 from the Blues, and enjoyed a stellar first half-season with the club, with eight goals in 20 Championship appearances, as he emerged as one of Michael O’Neill’s key players and was subsequently made club captain ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
That season did not go as planned for the Potters though, as O’Neill was sacked and replaced by Alex Neil in August, and the club finished 16th in the Championship, with Baker making 48 appearances and scoring eight goals in all competitions.
He played all but 46 minutes of the club’s first 28 league games that term, but then started just two of the final 18 outings as he fell out of favour under Neil and struggled to usurp an in-form midfield trio of Ben Pearson, Josh Laurent and Will Smallbone.
Baker then suffered a knee injury in the summer of 2023 and did not appear until the start of December against Plymouth, which was Neil’s penultimate game in charge, before he was sacked and replaced by Steven Schumacher.
