Leeds United didn’t exactly see the best of Lewis Baker but Stoke City have truly got the midfielder playing his best football in years.
Baker was long backed as a star of the future having been in the Chelsea ranks since way back in 2005.
Poached from Luton Town at the age of just nine, Baker was backed to become a regular for Chelsea and England.
Jose Mourinho even suggested that he should be blamed if Baker never made the grade with England.
Sadly, Baker doesn’t have an England cap and is unlikely to ever get one. You can argue that he was a victim of too many loans.
Sheffield Wednesday and MK Dons took Baker on loan before a stunning two-year stint with Vitesse Arnhem. That’s when the Baker hype was at its peak.
Since then though, it’s been tough going. A spell with Middlesbrough wasn’t great and joining Leeds in 2018 hardly helped.
Baker only managed two league starts for Leeds before cutting his loan spell short in January 2019 to join Reading.
Marcelo Bielsa may not have picked Baker all that much, but did admit that he wanted Baker to not only see out his season on loan, but then stay for another one.
Bielsa clearly saw something in Baker but it just didn’t work for him at Leeds. Spells with Reading, Fortuna Dusseldorf and Trabzonspor didn’t work out either.
After briefly returning to Chelsea, Baker finally secured a permanent exit in January 2022. Stoke City pounced to sign Baker, handing him a two-and-a-half-year deal.
What a move that has been for both Stoke and Baker.
The 26-year-old has racked up a ridiculous eight goals and two assists in 18 games for Stoke, all from midfield.
Hailed as ‘brilliant’ by boss Michael O’Neill, Baker has been a shining light for Stoke in 2022.
This has been a dreadful 2022 for the Potters but Baker will be giving them hope of success for next season.
It’s a shame that Leeds never really saw this side of Baker, but Bielsa seemingly felt he could get it out of him with more time together at Elland Road.
It wasn’t to be at Leeds, but Baker is finally showing his quality in the Championship.
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