Norwich City: How is Ben Gibson getting on at Stoke City after summer move? | OneFootball

Gibson joined the Potters in June upon the expiry of his Canaries contract

Ben Gibson became a key figure at the back in his four seasons at Carrow Road, but joined Stoke City in June after he had been released by Norwich upon the expiry of his contract at the end of last season.

Gibson joined the Canaries on an initial loan deal from Burnley in 2020, and went on to make the move permanent in 2021 after he had helped the club achieve promotion to the Premier League under Daniel Farke in his debut campaign.

A tough season in the top-flight followed as they were relegated back to the second-tier, and he then suffered an injury-hit 2022/23 campaign before he featured 40 times in all competitions last season as the Canaries finished sixth in the Championship under David Wagner, but were eventually well beaten by Leeds United in the play-off semi-final second-leg in May.

The 31-year-old was not offered a new Norwich deal at the end of the season, despite being a key part of their squad for the last few years, and Stoke came out on top against a number of fellow Championship clubs, amid a reported bidding war, to sign him on a three-year deal in June and bolster Steven Schumacher's defensive ranks.

Ben Gibson is already a key figure in Schumacher's Stoke squad

It has not taken much time at all for Gibson to acclimatise to his new surroundings, and he has already been named as Stoke's club captain for the new season, after existing skipper Josh Laurent saw the armband taken off him prior to his move to Burnley.

Gibson led his new teammates out in every pre-season friendly before the competitive campaign even kicked off, but boss Schumacher waited until after the opening game of the league season before he confirmed the decision publicly, and also described the 31-year-old as a "brilliant character for the dressing room" while adding that he would be supported by a new-look leadership group of senior players.

Said elder statesmen are a rarity in Stoke's current squad though, and so Gibson has had to step up so far this season in the knowledge that he is a lot more experienced than most of his current teammates, with Schumacher fielding two of the club's youngest-ever starting 11's in respective wins over Middlesbrough and Plymouth Argyle.

Gibson has certainly not looked out of place, as expected, and has featured from the off in three of the Potters' four league games so far, with his starting berth taken by Spurs loanee Ashley Phillips in the most recent outing at Plymouth.

Being left out will not discourage the 31-year-old though, as he was still brought on for Phillips late on, and he is set to be firmly in Schumacher's plans this season, with rotation expected due to Stoke's decent depth at centre-back as it stands.

Gibson is showing that he has settled in well

A parameter of how well a player has settled in at a new club is usually how much they have posted to their social media accounts about the move, and Gibson has been quick to take to his Instagram account to connect with Potters fans.

His first post of the new campaign came immediately after Stoke's first league game against Coventry City, after he had led his teammates out to a big 1-0 win over the Sky Blues to start the new season.

He took to Instagram yet again to revel in Stoke's win over Plymouth last time out, with his caption reading: "The lads & travelling fans were superb 👏…😍 enjoy the break everyone!!!"

It is pretty clear to see that his teammates are happy with his contribution on and off the pitch so far too, with winger Million Manhoef calling him: "My captain❤️" and new striker Sam Gallagher adding: "Nice Skip 💪🏼❤️" in the comments beneath his post.

Gibson has won promotion from the Championship twice - with Middlesbrough in 2015/16 and Norwich four seasons ago - and he made his intentions clear about what he wants to achieve in his time with Stoke upon his arrival.

"We have a clear objective to make this season very different to last," Gibson told BBC Radio Stoke.

"It's just about guiding that and the club, the manager and the team have made the first steps towards doing that at the back end of last season.

"We have to keep on pushing because there's no ceiling for this football club."

It is clear to see that Stoke brought Gibson to the club for his experience and nous at Championship level compared to the rest of the squad, and so far they have been justified in their decision to offer him the most lucrative package of the interested clubs that were after him in the summer.