Mark Robins should be patient when it comes to Stoke City actioning next play in midfielder’s saga | OneFootball

Lewis Baker is out of contract at the end of this season and needs to prove his worth to boss Robins

Stoke City midfielder Lewis Baker has now been with the Potters for over three years, but with his contract coming to an end this summer, boss Mark Robins needs to be patient and wait until he has seen more of the 29-year-old before he makes his decision on a new deal.

Stoke's turbulent campaign shows no signs of getting much better anytime soon right now, with Robins, who was appointed as the club's third manager of the season last month, needing to be fully focused on keeping his side in the Championship from now until May.

The former Coventry City boss will, however, have numerous key decisions to make come the end of the season, regardless of the division that the Potters might be in, with eight of his current first-team squad all out of contract at the end of June.

Central midfielder Baker is one of the most notable of those, as despite looking set to see out his spell at the bet365 Stadium out on loan at Blackburn Rovers, one of Robins' first ports of call when he took over was to recall him from his time in East Lancashire.

The 29-year-old is arguably as important as he ever has been for Stoke right now, in the midst of a relegation battle, and as he looks to earn a new deal at the club he has previously played the best football of his career at, his boss needs to wait and see just how much influence he can retain on his side before making his decision on a new deal.

Lewis Baker has had his ups and downs in a Stoke City shirt

Baker had not had a permanent club that appreciated his talents before he joined Stoke, after being stuck in the Chelsea loan-cycle for years and never being able to settle with one team amid notable spells with Vitesse, Leeds United and Trabzonspor.

He arrived in the Potteries in January 2022 from the Blues, and enjoyed a stellar first half-season with the club, with eight goals in 20 Championship appearances, as he emerged as one of Michael O'Neill's key players and was subsequently made club captain ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

That season did not go as planned for the Potters though, as O'Neill was sacked and replaced by Alex Neil in August, and the club finished 16th in the Championship, with Baker making 48 appearances and scoring eight goals in all competitions.

He played all but 46 minutes of the club's first 28 league games that term, but then started just two of the final 18 outings as he fell out of favour under Neil and struggled to usurp an in-form midfield trio of Ben Pearson, Josh Laurent and Will Smallbone.

Baker then suffered a knee injury in the summer of 2023 and did not appear until the start of December against Plymouth, which was Neil's penultimate game in charge, before he was sacked and replaced by Steven Schumacher.

Despite the club reportedly being open to offers for him last January, the 29-year-old forced his way into Schumacher's thinking for a period of the second-half of the season, and even netted goals against Rotherham United and Middlesbrough, but then started in just two of the final eight league games as Stoke avoided the drop.

Fresh reports that emerged at the beginning of the summer made it pretty clear that he did not have a future at the club, and despite bagging the winner off the bench in Stoke's opening day victory against Coventry, he was allowed to depart late in the window to join Rovers as the Potters wrapped up a deal for Tatsuki Seko.

Baker has been trusted by Mark Robins but needs to earn a new contract

Baker featured 13 times for Blackburn in the Championship in the first-half of this season, as they chased the play-off spots under now-departed boss John Eustace, but he was only handed a starting berth on seven different occasions and failed to ever really make an impact at Ewood Park.

With Robins appointed at the start of January following Narcis Pelach's ill-fated spell in charge of Stoke, it took him just seven days at the helm to recall Baker from his Rovers spell, and he was quick to heap praise on the 29-year-old, with a clear plan for him to be included in the squad for the rest of this term.

"One of the reasons I brought Lewis back is for that (experience), but the main reason is his quality," Robins told StokeOnTrentLive.

"He’s got great quality and I’m hoping we can work together and get the best out of him at this stage of his career.

"That was part of the conversation I had with him before we did anything."

Robins has certainly given his midfield man ample opportunity to prove himself so far, with starts in six of the seven Potters games since he returned to the club, but there has been little to shout about in terms of his performances despite that backing.

In truth, Baker was likely mainly recalled due to a clear lack of midfield options at Robins' disposal when he first arrived in ST4, and that has shown in how many minutes he has played since coming back. Now that the likes of Ben Pearson, Bosun Lawal and Jordan Thompson are back fit and ready to play, he is sure to face more time out of the team.

The 29-year-old has not done a great deal over the last month for Stoke, but his well-taken penalty against Cardiff in the FA Cup last week was a clear reminder of his experience and set-piece talent, which certainly needs to be displayed a lot more between now and the end of this term if he is to be handed a new deal when he is 30 this summer.

With that said, Robins has no pressure to rush into making a decision on his future anytime soon, and instead will be putting all of his time and effort into making sure the Potters retain their Championship status for another season.

It is pretty clear, however, as he is soon to pass 100 appearances for the club, that Baker must prove his worth with some goals and assists over the coming months to improve his chances of a new deal. If not, he will be 30-years-old by the time 2025/26 starts and looking for a new permanent club for only the second time in his career.