Wycombe Wanderers are the first of two clubs, as well as Huddersfield Town, to register a growing interest in a temporary deal for Stoke City’s Nathan Lowe. The Potters are looking to continue the striker’s development with a League One spell.
Following a hugely impressive League Two campaign with Walsall in the first half of last season, Lowe is reportedly garnering interest among the top clubs in the third tier. The 19-year-old scored 18 times – 15 in the league – for the Saddlers and his return to the Bet365 Stadium in January resulted in a major drop-off at Walsall, highlighting the forward’s huge impact.
Despite the young striker’s singular league goal in just 10 games since returning to Stoke, the Staffordshire side value their prospect extremely highly and are seeking further improvement to make the transition to the Championship more seamless in the future. An unfortunate injury and rotation issues stunted Lowe’s growth within the first team last season. Wycombe and the Terriers have emerged as prime candidates to nurture the Englishman’s abilities while also boosting their own promotion bids.
Lee Grant has recently been unveiled as Huddersfield’s new manager and has already added Ryan Ledson and Marcus Harness to a ransacked squad following several contract expirations. The Chairboys on the other hand could be set to lose Richard Kone, Wycombe’s 18-goal striker last season, who is the subject of potential interest from West Ham United. This will evidently require an adequate replacement, with first team minutes resultantly being an appealing prospect in Mike Dodds’ side.
Lowe would be Wycombe’s first signing of the window if a deal went through quickly, but Stoke will be monitoring the situations at both clubs, and potentially waiting for more suitors as they decide on the 19-year-old’s short-term future. The former England under-19s striker has appeared three times in that age category and has been an expert finisher in City’s academy. 19 goals in 30 appearances for the youth side has been complemented by a further 16 in 24 under-18 matches in spells between 2022-2025.
Writer’s View
Wycombe, if the Kone departure happens, will be able to offer a healthier amount of game time to Lowe and could directly replace the goals that the Ivorian striker brought them in abundance last season. Huddersfield will already have Dion Charles and Joe Taylor bidding for the number nine role, if only one striker is mostly used by Grant next season. Even if two forwards are deployed, inadequate or unbalanced rotation could deplete morale in the attacking ranks.
However, the Terriers are short on third division quality as they begin their near-full rebuild this summer. Having already added the likes of Ledson and Harness, Town evidently mean business ahead of next campaign which could be an appealing factor.
Ultimately two battling promotion sides can offer a decent-enough forward role as ambitious contenders. Huddersfield, despite last season’s underwhelming finish, are building an exciting squad whereas Wycombe are looking to replicate or better their play-off finishing campaign.
