Liam McCarron has failed to break into the Potters squad under three different managers
HIGHLIGHTS
- Stoke City has made transfer moves to improve the squad for the upcoming season, releasing some first-team players.
- Liam McCarron, a left-back, joined Stoke from Leeds United in 2022 but has struggled to secure a spot in the first team.
- McCarron could potentially solve Stoke’s left-back issues if he impresses in pre-season, offering a cost-effective solution for the club.
Stoke City have already made transfer moves to improve and trim their squad ahead of the 2024/25 campaign under Steven Schumacher.
Viktor Johansson and Ben Gibson have both joined the Potters from Rotherham United and Norwich City respectively, while decisions have been made to release first-team players Tyrese Campbell, Ciaran Clark, Tom Edwards, Wesley and D’Margio Wright-Phillips from their contracts.
Stoke currently have around 25 players that could figure in Schumacher’s 2024/25 squad if they are still at the club in August, and one of those is the lesser-spotted left-back Liam McCarron.
McCarron joined the Potters from Leeds United in June 2022, but has since made just five appearances at senior level despite appearing in the Premier League with the Whites under Marcelo Bielsa.
The former Scotland U19 international is now 23 and out of contract next summer, so Stoke need to make a decision soon – either give him a chance in the first team squad for the upcoming season or sell him for a small fee to a team where he will play regular games.
McCarron should have done more for Stoke
Preston-born McCarron came through the Carlisle United academy, and made his first-team debut for his boyhood club at just 17-years-old in 2018 against Morecambe in the EFL Trophy.
| Liam McCarron 2018/19 Carlisle statistics | |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 20 |
| Starts | 4 |
| Goals | 0 |
| Assists | 1 |
| All competitions, stats as per transfermarkt | |
After turning down an improved contract offer from the Cumbrians, he signed for Leeds United on a three-year contract in July 2019 and soon became a regular in the Premier League 2 for their U21 side, with Marcelo Bielsa even handing him his senior Premier League debut in a 4–1 defeat to Arsenal at Elland Road in December 2021.
That proved to be his only senior appearance for the club, as he joined Stoke on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee in the summer of 2022 with the prospect of playing regular first-team football looking likely under then-boss Michael O’Neill, who was sacked just two months later.
Alex Neil came in and almost immediately sanctioned a loan move to local rivals Port Vale for McCarron on September 1, as he became the first loan player to make the cross-city move since March 1978.
