Stoke City have made Wales winger Sorba Thomas their first permanent signing in the Mark Robins era.
The 26-year-old is returning to England after a year on loan at Nantes in the France top flight after an option to make the deal permanent for about 4m euros passed. Stoke are believed to have struck a deal with parent club Huddersfield Town for less than half that. He has signed a three-year contract.
He has a reputation for versatility, athleticism and set piece delivery and few players can match his assists record in the Championship over recent years. He has averaged just under 10 a season – and has made at least 40 appearances – in his three campaigns at this level.
Thomas – currently on international duty with Wales – came through the ranks at West Ham but made his senior breakthrough at Boreham Wood – topping up his wages by working as a scaffolder and in JD Sports while helping the club reach the FA Cup third round and National League play-off final
He stepped up three divisions in early 2021 and took that in his stride, being named Championship player of the month that August and swiftly being summoned for Wales, qualifying through his Newport-born mum Gail.
He helped Huddersfield reach the Championship play-off final in 2022, spent time on loan at Blackburn in 2023 and admitted he had to learn from Huddersfield’s relegation in 2024. Even in that season, however, he had the second highest number of key passes in the division, only behind Ipswich Town assist king Leif Davis.
Thomas has thrived under Carlos Corberan and Neil Warnock and is a favourite of Craig Bellamy while he has worked with Stoke coach James Rowberry at Wales. But he has played under eight managers in the last three years, chiefly due to Huddersfield’s turmoil.
He can play on the right and left, has filled in as wing-back or full-back but has probably been at his best as an old school touchline-hugging winger who likes to get crosses into the box.
That has made him a wanted man in the Championship, with West Brom trying to sign him last summer and Hull City thinking they’d got him in January only for Nantes to refuse to break their loan agreement.
“Those things I had to change,” Thomas said as he explained his move to France last summer. “I needed to be a better team-mate. It’s not always about ‘me, me, me’. Sometimes, I can use the team to make me look better and the team can use me to be better too.”
Thomas had ups and downs in France, ultimately helping Nantes stay up although their boss Antoine Kombouaré was then sacked last month. Highlights included standing out in a crucial final day win over Montpellier to secure their status, two assists in a 2-2 draw with Monaco in January and setting up a vital equaliser in the penultimate match away at Auxerre.
He will join up with Stoke when they return for pre-season training on June 26.
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