Sorba Thomas described his release by West Ham United as a ‘smack in the face’. So bringing Stoke City’s Welsh wizard back to East London, at the peak of his powers a decade later, would represent quite the turnaround.
While the Hammers are on the lookout for Mateus Fernandes replacements, the likely departure of Crysencio Summerville means left-wingers will soon be in high demand too.
And, according to ExWhuEmployee, Sorba Thomas has been lined up as a potential successor.
This would be quite the story arc. A Barking-born winger released by West Ham United in 2015, who ‘fell out of love with the game’ before climbing his way back up the ladder from the lowest rungs of Cheshunt FC and Boreham Wood.
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Speaking to BBC Sport in 2021, Thomas recalled the trauma of that Hammers heartbreak; ‘Being told you’re not good enough is a smack in the face. That was the first time I was told I wasn’t good enough. I didn’t take it well. I didn’t really want to play anymore’.
But is Thomas ‘good enough’ now? A stellar season in the Championship with Stoke City suggests that, if West Ham were to pursue a homecoming, this would be a transfer driven by the head rather than the heart.
West Ham United eye Stoke City winger Sorba Thomas
Since the start of the 2023/24 Championship campaign, only seven players have recorded a ‘double double’. In other words, only seven players have recorded over ten goals and ten assists in the same season.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall [Leicester], Adam Armstrong [Southampton], Gabriel Sara [Norwich], Jack Rudoni [Coventry], Fin Azaz [Middlesbrough], Manor Solomon [Leeds], and Sorba Thomas.
There is, perhaps, one very notable omission.
Crysencio Summerville claimed the Championship Player of the Year award in 2023/24; his final year at Elland Road before that £30 million move to West Ham. Yet, he is missing from that list.
OK, Summerville was only one away, recording nine assists that term. Yet, nine assists for a Leeds side who reached the play-off final, compared to eleven assists for a Stoke side which limped to a dreadful 17th place finish with a mere fraction of the firepower?
That Thomas racked up such impressive numbers in a poor Potters team makes his place among the aforementioned ‘Magnificent Seven’ even more impressive.
Summerville is, clearly, a far more potent goalscorer than his potential West Ham successor. He creates more chances, takes more shots, and completes more dribbles.
Thomas, though, offers two things Summerville arguably does not; wicked crossing, and availability.
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The Stoke star was released by West Ham as a teenager ⚒️
Thomas started 45 out of 46 Championship games last season
As EFL expert Ali Maxwell pointed out last term, on the Not the Top 20 podcast, Thomas’ crosses were ‘absolutely deadly’ from the left-hand side. He even scored himself from a few; a delivery so pinpoint that the goalkeeper doesn’t dare leave his line, only to see the ball fly past him and into the far corner.
“Now, I am always quite dismissive of goals that are crosses,” Maxwell said after Thomas stunned Wrexham; a goal some would describe as ‘fortunate’, but not when you’re making a habit of it like Stoke’s number seven.
“I think it’s worth pointing out that he is easily the Championship player most likely to score a cross, because his crosses are absolutely deadly. And especially now he is playing on the left, with his crosses curling towards the goal.
“Sorba Thomas, regardless of whether he meant that goal, he has been among the best players in the league this season. [He is] among the most goal contributions, particularly for a team that has got a good defence but isn’t exactly cutting loose going forward. Incredibly valuable contributions as well.”
Thomas is a different kind of winger to Summerville.
The Dutchman is extremely direct, he loves to run at full-backs, and is arguably more of a ‘wide forward’ than a classic winger; more a goalscorer than a goal-creator.
Thomas, though, feels like a bit of a throwback. As emphasised by his high crossing stats and his low dribble numbers, Thomas would rather fling a ball into the box than take on his marker. There was arguably no better set-piece taker in the Championship last term. He would be a replacement for Summerville positionally, but not in a ‘like-for-like’ sense.
Something else that stands him apart from Summerville is what Maxwell calls ‘the best ability; Availability’.
Summerville has missed 27 games in two seasons at West Ham, including a trio of highly important matches in the spring.
Thomas, per Transfermarkt, has not suffered a single injury since playing for Huddersfield Town in 2021/22. He started 45 of 46 Championship matches at Stoke. Only nine players were recorded as having played more minutes than his tally of 3,922.
“It sounds stupid to say but, to me, those are astounding numbers,” Maxwell added. “[They] show how complete he is physically. He just looks like a completely new player compared to when we last saw him at this level, and it is so exciting.”
‘Exciting’ might not be the word every West Ham fan uses to describe the potential signing of a player released as a kid, and whose most successful campaign came with a Stoke side who finished only eight points above the Championship relegation zone.
Especially as Thomas is likely to be replacing one of the Hammers’ top operators; Summerville has his heart set on a move to Manchester United.
But what he lacks in terms of star power, mind-bending skill and rapid-fire goalscoring, Thomas could make up for with devastating crosses and, above all, availability.
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