'Needs to go' – Stoke City loan man urged to leave parent club by pundit
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Stoke City loanee Andy Moran has been urged to leave Brighton and Hove Albion on a permanent basis in the future by pundit Adam Virgo.
Stoke City landed the midfielder on loan in the last transfer window to boost their squad.
Moran, 21, has since made 16 appearances in all competitions for the Potters, 13 of which have come in the league, and he has scored twice.
Former Brighton and Bristol Rovers defender Virgo has written in The Football League Paper (17.11.24, page 11): “Andy Moran may have signed a four-year contract at Brighton before he was loaned out to Stoke City this season. But do I see him playing for Seagulls in the Premier League? No. For me, the 21-year-old should now be playing for a Championship move.
“If you look at the sort of players Brighton bring through – Solly March, Jack Hinshelwood, Lewis Dunk, Aaron Connolly – they tend to progress pretty rapidly into the first-team and sustain that sort of involvement. In four seasons with the first team, Andy’s only had 24 minutes of Premier League football when he came on against Everton in 2023.
“So no disrespect, but you know that his time’s going to be limited in terms of opportunities and chances. That’s not to say he isn’t good enough. He’s a very, very tidy footballer who is good at what he does. What he brings to Stoke is certainly needed in that midfield area, even if he should score a few more goals.
“Realistically, though, is he going to get past someone like Carlos Baleba, who is around the same age and cost Brighton £25m? He needs to go and play first-team football, go and find his own identity.”
Stoke City loan man latest
Brighton will have a big decision to make on Moran’s future when he is back from Stoke City.
He was given the green light to head out the exit door on a temporary basis again to move to the Bet365 Stadium to get more game time.
As Virgo alluded to, it is hard to see him breaking into the Seagulls’ starting XI in the Premier League due to the abundance of options that they have at their disposal in his position.
Moran, who is a Republic of Ireland international with two caps under his belt, joined Brighton in 2020 from Bray Wanderers.
He has since played three times for their senior team and was loaned out to Blackburn Rovers in the last campaign to boost his development.
The Dubliner went on to play 40 games during his time at Ewood Park and chipped in with four goals.
What now?
Moran will want to continue getting plenty of opportunities with Stoke City over the coming months.
The future will take care of itself for him and if he was to cut ties with Brighton, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a few teams in the second tier take an interest.
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