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The Stoke City sporting director has revealed talks with Richard Hughes and co at Anfield that could influence the future of Lewis Koumas.

Since joining the Potters on a season-long loan in August 2024, Koumas has featured in 14 Championship matches, scoring two goals and providing one assist.

His versatility has been evident, with appearances as a forward and winger.

Notably, Koumas scored on his first league start against West Bromwich Albion on August 25.

The 19-year-old’s progress in the Championship led to a full debut for Wales in the September international break, getting his first full taste of men’s senior football.

Koumas joined Liverpool’s academy in 2016.

He signed his first professional contract with Liverpool in January 2023 and made his senior debut for the club in February 2024, scoring in an FA Cup match against Southampton.

His loan to Stoke City aims to provide regular first-team experience, and his performances suggest a promising future for both club and country.

In fact, those at Stoke seem to be banking on the prospect of Koumas staying past this season.

What did the Stoke City sporting director say about Richard Hughes and Lewis Koumas?

Stoke sporting director Jon Walters has been discussing the progress of Koumas at the Bet365 Stadium, and believes that Liverpool will not recall him thanks to all the progress he has made in such a short amount of time:

“There’s a big thing made about loans and recall clauses in January but almost every single loan, 99 per cent, will have clauses like that because if your player’s not playing, you’ll want to call him back,” he said via the Stoke Sentinel.

“If your player’s playing and has been called up for the international team, why would you want to call him back?”

“They were sent with expectations, some of them to not have been involved as much as they have, and the likes of Lewis, I’m not sure how many first loans have played more minutes in the Championship this season and he’s really disappointed when he doesn’t play, which is what we want.

It’s great!

“You come, you develop, we invite the loan managers down to come and watch and we’ll tell them what we’re doing and they go into what they want from us.”

“You hope you’re doing well for them as a club and then next year, can we have them again?” Walters added, suggesting he would not mind having Koumas in 2025/26 as well.

Walters also revealed his talks with Richard Hughes, with the local outlet claiming that Richard Hughes are getting updates on Lewis Koumas frequently:

“They’re all really good guys and we’re building relationships,” he said, referring Hughes and other relevant clubs’ chiefs.

“And I hope other teams are looking and thinking, ‘I want to send a player to Stoke because I know what they produce, players are getting minutes, developing and their asset value has gone up.”

“We’ll help them, coach them, develop them, put in the messages that need putting into them.