Stoke City have to target Sheffield United repeat if Tom Cannon disaster strikes | OneFootball

The Potters need to sign a striker with the same impact as James Beattie if Cannon is recalled by the Foxes

Stoke City are in decent form at the minute under Narcis Pelach, but will be approaching the January window with apprehension due to the possibility of star striker Tom Cannon being recalled from his loan spell by parent club Leicester City.

The Potters beat off some strong competition to sign Cannon in the last week of the summer window in August, and despite a slow start in ST4, he has come into his own in recent weeks with Pelach's guidance, and currently sits joint-third in the Championship scoring charts with seven league goals.

With that sort of form comes more interest in his services, however, and crucial recent developments revealed that the 21-year-old has a recall clause in his loan deal that the Foxes could potentially trigger in January to sell him on for a sizeable fee and leave the Potters short-changed.

Stoke cannot afford to lose him in the January window if they wish to continue their challenge for a top-half finish, but the club will be aware of the possibility of him being called back, and must act to bring in another clinical frontman in his place if disaster strikes.

The Potters have had tough luck with strikers in years gone by, but a potentially vital January deal for a forward brings back memories of James Beattie's move to the Potteries in 2009, and Stoke will need a new addition to have a similar impact to that of the ex-Sheffield United man if Cannon is no longer at the club in the new year.

James Beattie had a great impact upon his move to Stoke

Stoke were promoted to the Premier League under Tony Pulis in 2008, and their first top-flight campaign in 23 years saw them start the season impressively, but they soon began to hit a rough patch of form in the lead up to the new year, and needed attacking reinforcements to stave off relegation.

In came Beattie, for a fee of around £3.5 million from Championship outfit Sheffield United, and his impact on the team was almost instant, as he became one of the most transformational winter signings in the club's history to this day.

The then-30-year-old provided an assist for Rory Delap's opener against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on his debut for the Potters, then followed that up with his first goal for the club in his second appearance at Tottenham Hotspur, but Stoke were still losing games and stuck in the bottom three.

He soon netted his first goal at the Britannia Stadium in his third appearance, with a headed winner in a vital 1-0 win over Manchester City, and Stoke's form picked up from there with the help of his strong hold-up play, clinical finishing, and seamless ability to switch between playing as a lone striker, or in a front two next to Ricardo Fuller or Mamady Sidibe.

Beattie went on to register five more goals, including key strikes in wins over Bolton Wanderers, West Brom and Wigan Athletic, and two more assists in 13 games as the Potters lost just four times in that same period, and eventually stayed up with relative ease in 12th place.

His time in the Potteries soon petered out, with a lack of game-time in the 2009/10 season and a well-documented fall-out with boss Pulis, but Beattie's impact on Stoke's fortunes in his first six months in ST4 cannot be understated, and he is widely considered one of the club's best January additions of all-time.

Stoke need a striker of Beattie's impact if Cannon leaves the club soon

The Potters' goal-scoring record so far this season is not bad, but relatively modest, and they sit 13th for goals scored in the Championship to date, with 19 strikes in 17 games.

Boss Narcis Pelach's big issue is his reliance on loanee Cannon to score, and the 21-year-old's seven league strikes and one assist so far account for 47% of the Potters' goals in the league this season, so if the worst happens and he is recalled by Leicester, then Stoke will clearly have a big problem on their hands that will need addressing immediately.

Leicester are arguably doing better than many expected them to in the Premier League this term, and their shock decision to relieve Steve Cooper of his managerial duties this week could either work for or against Stoke in January.

On the one hand, the next Foxes boss could see the benefits of keeping Cannon at the bet365 Stadium for the duration of the campaign, but they could also be tempted into either bringing him back to give him a chance in the top-flight, or to sell him on for a decent sum of money that can then be used for their own January signings.

The Potters' current striker options behind the Leicester loan man are scarce, with Niall Ennis and Emre Tezgel both unproven in the second-tier, and Sam Gallagher effective when he does play, but unfit more often than not.

One thing is very clear - Stoke need to do all that is in their power to keep Cannon at the club, but if they can't, they must replace him with a player that has a proven record at the level, like Beattie did in the Premier League, and is preferably able to be signed on a permanent deal to have the same impact as the five-time England international did back in 2009.