Stoke City will love what's happened to Spurs for one clear reason | OneFootball

Stoke City's hopes of re-signing Ashley Phillips this summer have been helped with Tottenham Hotspur's survival

Stoke City are in for a huge summer after another year of disappointment, and must show their proactiveness and ambition in the upcoming transfer window by bringing in some key profiles.

Indeed, the malaise has well and truly set in at Stoke.

The Potters have finished in the bottom half of whichever division they have been in for each of the last ten years, and the most recent campaign piles on the proof that they may well be cursed.

Winning four of their opening five league games, behind only Coventry City and Middlesbrough after ten league games, taking on the Sky Blues in a 1st versus 2nd clash in early November, and maintaining the best defensive record in the Championship during that stint, it finally looked like the North Staffordshire outfit were onto something.

Fast-forward to May, and Stoke were in 17th, despite only the aforementioned Coventry and Middlesbrough spending more time in the top two positions than them over the course of the campaign, with only Sheffield Wednesday picking up fewer points across the final 30 games than the Potters, whilst their solid defence crumbled.

Injuries to the likes of Viktor Johansson, Gavin Bazunu, Ben Wilmot, Ben Gibson, Bosun Lawal, Maksym Talovierov, Junior Tchamadeu, and Aaron Cresswell have hindered their consistency and solidity, though one player continued to stay fit and stand out from the rest, and their chances of re-signing them once again this summer have taken a huge boost after what has happened to Tottenham Hotspur.

Stoke City's chances of re-signing Ashley Phillips this summer have been helped by Tottenham Hotspur's survival

Standing tall above the rest, both figuratively and literally, Ashley Phillips has once again been a colossus at the back for Stoke this season, in what was his second loan spell with the Potters from Spurs.

Phillips, 20, came through the ranks at Blackburn Rovers and made the move to North London in the summer of 2023 for just £3 million, and has since spent time out on loan with Plymouth Argyle and Stoke, the latter on two separate occasions.

The first spell, still only 19, yielded 35 Championship appearances for the Potters under each of Steven Schumacher, Narcis Pelach, and Mark Robins, with the former Coventry boss keen to sanction his return last summer.

The England youth international returned to the Potteries for a second successive spell, and went on to make 40 league appearances in the heart of defence at the bet365 Stadium, with his performances seeing him shortlisted for the EFL Championship’s Young Player of the Season award.

With Spurs embroiled in a relegation battle, the general feeling around the Potteries was that he would almost certainly not return to the club for a third spell if the capital club were to face an embarrassing relegation, as he would likely stick around in the second tier with them.

Fortunately for Stoke, Spurs survived, with West Ham United going down at their expense, and the Potters' chances of bringing the 20-year-old back for another stint, potentially on a permanent basis this time around, have taken a huge boost.

Phillips has previously stated his love for the club, and, in an ideal world, his ambition to return once again, saying: "I’d love to. It’s a fantastic club but we’ve got to see how the season finishes and then go from there for next year.

"“I love being here, it’s a fantastic club. I’m very thankful for how they’ve developed me as a player. I feel like I owe everything to Stoke and that’s why I’ve been so keen to achieve great things this season, which I’m still positive about.

"I forget sometimes I’m a loan player too. It feels like I’ve been here forever to be fair. It’s a great club. The fans are great, the staff are great. I’m loving my time here."

Indeed, with Stoke's season ending on another glum note, whether Phillips is still keen to make yet another return, at this stage, remains to be seen.

But having impressed during both spells in the Potteries, endearing himself to the supporters and developing tremendously, it would be a surprise if Stoke didn't at least explore the possibility of a permanent switch.

How much Spurs would command is also up for question, as having only signed a contract last summer until 2028, he won't come especially cheap, but that likely won't deter the Potters from trying.

Mark Robins must get Stoke City fans back on side and can do so with the acquisition of Ashley Phillips from Tottenham Hotspur

With Stoke plummeting down the table in the second half of the season, it's little surprise that Robins is under increased pressure heading into the summer, with Football League World having exclusively revealed previously that the Potters were eyeing up other candidates to replace Robins in the event of an exit.

The former Coventry boss has a lot of credit in the bank for his work with the Sky Blues, with many still feeling he is the right person for the job despite recent form.

However, many have lost patience, unsurprisingly, and if the 56-year-old is to win back the support of the masses, a strong transfer window would help.

The signing of Phillips would go a long way to rebuilding his reputation with supporters, and he should look to get this one over the line to kickstart their summer window.