Josh Laurent has shown he can play a significant role in a Steven Schumacher team but he only has one year left on his contract at Stoke City

Josh Laurent will return to Stoke City as captain tomorrow ready for the start of pre-season training and what is hoped and expected will be a long-awaited new dawn for the club.

The 29-year-old midfielder has shown he can play a significant role in a Steven Schumacher side, and his work on and off the ball in those final important three games and wins of the season should not be underestimated..

Schumacher himself said with a big nod to Laurent after a 1-0 win at Southampton guaranteed survival: “You got midfield players closing their goalkeeper down in their six yard box and almost scoring, blocking it and it going out for a goal-kick. That’s as important as putting in a block tackle in in your own penalty box because it just stops their momentum and gives us a chance to get up to be shown.”

Except as it stands today Laurent has just one year left on the contract he signed when he joined Stoke from Reading in 2022 and there are whispers about interest from overseas. Last year it was Frosinone in Italy, this summer there are two: Paphos, the Cypriot team competing in the Europa League, and Gaziantep, from the Turkish top flight.

It is understandable for any 29-year-old to want to consider their long-term future and what is best for themselves, their career and their family.

Stoke will want to be sure what is happening as quickly as possible. It is a safe bet that Plan A is keeping Laurent and tasking him with delivering the performance levels he hit in the spring over the course of a 46-game season. He started 29 league games in 2022/23 and 30 last term and a leading player needs to feature more than that – and changing games more with goals and assists too, as well as the closing down of goalkeepers and defenders.