Tottenham must be considering Stoke City recall action - West Brom, Sheffield United & Leyton Orient should watch closely in January | OneFootball

Jamie Donley has featured sparingly during his loan spell with Stoke City, and may be in line for a recall this January

Jamie Donley lit up League One on loan with Leyton Orient last season, but since joining Stoke City on loan in the Championship this summer, he has found his game time to be scarce.

On the face of it, it's somewhat puzzling that Jamie Donley has struggled for game time at Stoke this season.

With manager Mark Robins favouring a 4-2-3-1 formation, the Northern Irishman was expected to come in and offer strong competition for the number ten role, but so far, that has not transpired.

Each of Bae Jun-Ho, Lewis Baker, and Tomas Rigo have all been preferred in the attacking-midfielder role ahead of Donley at various stages this season, in what is proving to be a confusing predicament from the outside looking in.

Having impressed in the third tier with Leyton Orient last season, the general consensus among Spurs fans was that he would head out on loan once more, this time to the Championship, and would eventually join Stoke, along with Spurs teammate Ashley Phillips, who had spent the previous season on loan in Staffordshire.

However, so far it has not been the loan switch that he, nor anyone involved, would have been hoping for.

Since joining Stoke on loan, Donley has made just four appearances in the league, accumulating just 77 minutes of Championship football so far this season, having only started in both of the Potters' League Cup games against Walsall and Bradford City.

The 20-year-old got off to a positive start in the Potteries, having been introduced as a late substitute in Stoke's season opener against Derby County, coming on and grabbing the assist in the third goal in a 3-1 victory.

That is about as good as it has gotten for Donley, who failed to even make the matchday squad against Bristol City at the weekend, sparking rumours of an early recall this January, with Football League World looking at three clubs that should be monitoring the situation closely.

West Brom

Before Donley's switch to Stoke, West Brom had reportedly enquired about the Spurs man's availability.

Led by former Spurs midfielder Ryan Mason, the link between West Brom and Donley made complete sense on the face of it, yet the Northern Irishman chose to join the Potters instead.

Fellow Northern Irish international Isaac Price has locked down the attacking-midfielder role in Mason's preferred 4-2-3-1 formation at The Hawthorns this season, starting all 13 games thus far, scoring five and assisting one.

The Baggies also have the likes of Tammer Baby, Daryl Dike, Jed Wallace, Josh Maja, Karlan Grant, Mikey Johnston, Aune Heggebo and Samuel Iling-Junior in attacking options, so it is concerning that West Brom have not scored more than one goal in ten of their last 11 outings.

Should Mason continue failing to get a tune out of his attack, he may delve back into the market this January and will be keeping a keen eye on the Donley situation ahead of a potential revisit to the deal.

Sheffield United

Having narrowly missed out in the play-off final at the hands of Sunderland last season, Chris Wilder was relieved of his duties and replaced by Ruben Selles, but after just five defeats in five league games this season, Selles was sacked and replaced by Wilder for his third separate stint in charge of the Blades.

It has been a dismal campaign thus far for Sheffield United, who sit in the relegation zone with only bitter rivals Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City beneath them, with three wins and ten defeats from 13 games.

They are also the joint-lowest scorers in the league, tied with Wednesday on 10, with their attack looking particularly spineless at this stage.

Aston Villa loanee Louie Barry has thus far failed to live up to Championship standards, having made just one start since Wilder returned to the club, and wasn't included in the matchday squad for their home defeat to Derby County.

Should Barry's loan be cancelled early, this would free up a loan spot in an attacking area, and Wilder may have one eye on Donley's situation at Stoke.

With the Blades boss preferring a 3-4-2-1 formation, Donley would slot seamlessly into one of the number ten roles that are currently being occupied by either Callum O'Hare, Andre Brooks, Tom Cannon, or Gus Hamer.

A move for Donley to the Blades would prove to be a low-risk, high-reward deal, which they could massively benefit from at Stoke's expense.

Leyton Orient

In what was his first real taste of senior football, Northern Irish international Donley joined Leyton Orient on loan in League One last season to continue his development, where he shone.

The attacking-midfielder made 39 appearances in the third tier last season, scoring eight times and grabbing ten assists, and quickly became a fan favourite at Brisbane Road.

Orient made it all the way to the League One play-off final after defeating Stockport County over two legs to book a place at Wembley, but would ultimately lose out to London rivals Charlton Athletic 1-0 in the final, with Donley playing the full 90 minutes.

Although his time in East London would end in disappointment, Donley still enjoyed a fruitful relationship under Richie Wellens and the supporters, and will no doubt be keeping a keen eye on his situation at Stoke and hoping for an ambitious early reunion in order to boost a play-off charge in the second-half of the season.