Birmingham City are apparently interested in Stoke City captain Josh Laurent, although personal terms could be a concern.
The 29-year-old midfielder has extensive experience in the EFL, and Birmingham City is aiming to rebuild their squad following a disastrous few seasons that culminated in relegation to League One last season.
According to journalist Fraser Fletcher, Birmingham is interested in the seasoned midfielder, but his salary demands may put the Blues off.
Who is Josh Laurent?
Josh worked his way up the ranks at Queens Park Rangers before making his senior debut with Braintree Town.
The midfielder then joined Brentford, but after only one appearance for the Bees’ senior team, he signed a permanent contract with Hartlepool United after 18 months.
After 33 games for Hartlepool, the defender joined Wigan Athletic before being loaned to Bury after only six months and four appearances.
Laurent then joined Shrewsbury Town, where he made 93 first-team appearances before moving for Reading on a free transfer after two seasons.
He subsequently spent the next two seasons with Reading, finishing narrowly outside the playoffs in his first season, before moving to Stoke City in July 2022, where he has 76 appearances.
How did Laurent perform last season?
Laurent made 37 appearances in the Championship last season, 30 of which were starts. He scored one goal from 4.6 xG and assisted his teammates twice.
Laurent ranked 79% in shooting attempts and 77% in aerial duels won compared to other center midfielders in the league last season.
How would Laurent fit in at Birmingham?
Comfortable playing in defensive midfield or as a box-to-box midfielder, the midfielder is very powerful in duels, winning 155 in total, and arriving into the box with 45 shots last season, 14 of which came from outside the box.
Birmingham now possesses Seung-Ho Paik, Juninho Bacuna, Jordan James, and Krystian Bielik capable of playing in deeper midfield positions, therefore there will be fierce competition for slots if midfield choices remain unchanged.
Laurent has almost 200 EFL games, the vast majority of which have been at Championship level; depending on the system used, his talents would complement Bielik’s as part of a double pivot.