Stoke City are hoping to finally break their bottom-half Championship curse and begin to climb the table under Steven Schumacher this season.

The Potters had a busy transfer window, with six players allowed to leave for fees or on loan and 10 new faces arriving at the bet365 Stadium throughout the summer, including four loan players.

Schumacher’s side have had a decent start to the new campaign but need to continue in a similar vein for the coming months if they are to finish in the top half of the second tier for the first time since relegation to the league in 2018.

Stoke let seven players go upon the expiry of their contracts at the end of last season, and some of Schumacher’s current squad currently face a similar fate at the end of 2024/25 if nothing changes, so FLW have taken a look at the 11 players who, as of now, will depart the Potteries come next summer.

Emre Tezgel

A name that will come as a surprise to many to feature on this list, Emre Tezgel, who has been highly rated for a number of years as a youth striker and is just beginning to make his mark on senior football, is out of contract with his boyhood club next summer.

Tezgel signed his first professional contract, a three-year deal, with the Potters in July 2022 after he had made his first-team debut at 16 years old just six months earlier.

Still only 18, he has fully broken into Steven Schumacher’s senior squad this season and begun to score goals at senior level consistently for the first time in his short career.

It is imperative that Stoke tie him down to a new long-term deal as quickly as possible – he is widely seen as the future of the club and has the potential to go to the very top, so the Potters must keep hold of him while they can.

Jordan Thompson

Northern Ireland international midfielder Jordan Thompson was due to be out of contract at the end of last season but saw the option to extend his deal by another year triggered by Stoke due to his growing influence on Schumacher’s side in 2023/24.