Lewis Baker in action for Chelsea.
According to StokeSentinel, Stoke City are on the edge of striking a deal with Chelsea for the signature of 26-year-old midfielder, Lewis Baker.
After enjoying an impressive period with the Chelsea youth team during his teenage years, Lewis Baker has been offloaded on several loan spells in the past few years. Having played for teams like Sheffield Wednesday, MK Dons, Vitesse, and Middlesbrough, Baker hasn’t really found a place for himself in the senior set-up.
After returning from his one-season loan outing with Trabzonspor recently, the English star appeared for Chelsea in the FA Cup third round against Chesterfield FC, his first match with the senior team in 8 years. The forgotten man certainly has acquired a lot of experience playing in different leagues in the last few years and could be on the move again.
It is believed that Stoke City manager Michael O’Neill is currently edging towards a breakthrough in negotiations after having been in talks with the Chelsea board over a possible transfer move involving Baker.
Chelsea struggled to compete against top-tier teams in the absence of N’Golo Kanté and Mateo Kovačić this season. Thomas Tuchel’s summer signing Saúl Ñíguez hasn’t provided consistent performances and spent most of his time on the bench along with off-form ace Ross Barkley.
With the rise of injury issues and the Covid cases among the first team, Thomas Tuchel has even had to call up players from our youth side in the last month. We certainly require more quality midfielders, but it seems the 26-year-old wouldn’t fill that requirement.
The Blues midfielder has made 13 appearances across all competitions in this campaign, most of which came in the Premier League 2 with our U23 team. The 26-year-old signed a five-year contract in 2017, which will end in 2022. It remains to be seen if he manages to get a renewal once again despite being far removed from the first-team picture.
With all due respect to the teams he has played for on loan in the past few years, it doesn’t quite match up to the task of being a first-team player at Chelsea. If there was a future for him at Stamford Bridge, we wouldn’t have constantly sent him out on loan especially at his current age.
Therefore, we should focus on younger alternatives in the market who can compete with our world-class midfield trio. It is for the best that Baker seals a move away from the Blues on a permanent basis this month considering Martin O’Neill’s side, who were interested in him this summer, would offer him more game time than we currently do.
It would also be one name off our wage books and would free up space in our team. It remains to be seen if Baker joins Stoke this month, and whether it would be a permanent move or a temporary one.
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