Everton have been linked with a potential move for Stoke City and Wales winger Sorba Thomas
Everton are considering raiding the Championship for another bargain buy according to a report, but just what might Sorba Thomas potentially offer them?
The Daily Mail claim that the Blues are among the clubs monitoring the Stoke City winger. The Wales international has been enjoying a stand-out season in the second tier under Mark Robins, having scored 10 goals and provided nine assists, with the article stating that Bournemouth also checked on him and although he has just turned 27, Premier League sides still recognise his pace and ability in one-on-one situations could work in the top flight.
The piece adds: “Thomas is strict in his fitness and having taken the longer route to Championship football is more appreciative of the chance he has to kick on again. Everton are already weighing up new additions for the summer and will look to bolster their squad further if they qualify for Europe.
“Tyrique George is likely to return to Chelsea at the end of his loan while there are question marks over whether they can afford the financial package of buying Jack Grealish from Manchester City. David Moyes will want Premier League-ready players but will evaluate all options to make their budget work to the maximum.”
READ MORE: Marco Materazzi makes big Iliman Ndiaye Everton transfer claim and tips David Moyes for prizeREAD MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Everton star Aurora Galli on messages from Argentina hero and feeling derby passion
Born in Barking in east London, Thomas was part of West Ham United’s academy before being released at 16. Launching his senior career at non-League Boreham Wood, his professional breakthrough came at Huddersfield Town where he spent four years between 2021-25.
His time in Yorkshire included a spell on loan across the Pennines at Blackburn Rovers in 2023 while he was loaned out for his final season to French Ligue 1 club Nantes. Until this term, his best scoring tally in the professional ranks was scoring four goals for the Terriers in 2023/24.
Capped 23 times for Wales, scoring one international goal to date, he qualifies for Craig Bellamy’s side through his Newport-born mother while his father hails from Sierra Leone.
In terms of his playing style, Besiktas’ Milot Rashica – who has also been linked to Everton in the past – is deemed to be the closest match at 96% to Thomas’ playing style using Comparisonator’s Similarity tool with the nearest equivalents in the Premier League being Adama Traore of West Ham United (56%) and Jacob Murphy of Newcastle United (54%). We can also use Comparisonator’s Virtual Transfer tool to correlate Thomas’ statistics from the Championship this season to Premier League peers in his position.
Only Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers (10.762km per 90 minutes) can top Thomas’ total distance covered of 10.47km, a category where Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye comes in at fourth on 9.94km. Thomas also covers a lot of ground at speed with just Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz being the only Premier League player in his position to top 1km (1.05km) when it comes to high intensity distance (travelling at speeds of over 20km/h), with Thomas averaging 1.002km.
With an average of 23.03 sprints per 90 minutes (calculated as runs over 25km/h), just Kevin Schade of Brentford (24.17) and Pedro Neto of Chelsea (23.38) can better him. There are also just a couple of Premier League peers who have posted higher maximum speeds than Thomas’ 35.34km/h and that’s Schade again (35.84) and Newcastle United’s former Everton player Anthony Gordon (35.5km/h).
Thomas isn’t just about running though. Although he is operating at a lower level, only three Premier League players in his position can better his 0.27 goals per 90 minutes – Matheus Cunha of Manchester United (0.46); Antoine Semenyo of Manchester City (0.39) and Chemsdine Taibi of Sunderland (0.36). He matches Premier League leader Xavi Simons of Tottenham Hotspur for expected assists (0.24) and for shot assists (1.86), he tops Everton’s injured star Jack Grealish (1.75) who is top of the Premier League in that category.
When he pulls the trigger, he will typically test the goalkeeper too as only Semenyo (61%) has a higher percentage for shots on target with Thomas’ 53% figure matching Schade and Kaoru Mitoma of Brighton & Hove Albion. His average of 2.7 successful dribbles in the final third of the pitch would rank him fourth behind Premier League leader Jeremy Doku of Manchester City (3.76), while his average for shots on target (0.68) would put him fifth in a section led by Semenyo (1.39).
While Thomas works hard out of possession with an average of 2.38 ‘picking-ups’ (of loose balls), which would place him seventh in a category where Semenyo leads on 3.28 and his 1.03 interceptions in the opposition half – behind leader Enzo Le Fee of Sunderland on 1.5 – what does stand out as a negative is his average of 14.3 ball losses per 90 minutes, a section topped by Callum Hudson-Odoi on 5.42. For context, Grealish averages 8.2 and Ndiaye 9.67.
He does provide a supply line in danger areas though as only Gordon (1.56) can better Thomas’ average for successful crosses (1.27) and his 2.32 successful passes in the final third is only topped by Fulham’s Alex Iwobi (4.53) and Wirtz (3.22).
Sorba Thomas’ statistics for successful crosses in the Championship this season compared to Premier League players in his position
David Moyes does have an impressive track record of plundering the Championship for rough diamonds he can polish up into Premier League stars but at 27 you wonder whether Thomas is already at the peak of his powers. First time around at Everton, the Glaswegian gaffer plucked Tim Cahill (24) and Joleon Lescott (23) from the second tier and he repeated the trick with Jarrod Bowen (23) at West Ham United but they were of course all younger, although Jemaine Beckford, who he picked up on a Bosman-style free transfer from Leeds United when his contract expired was 26.
*Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising an industry leading 378 different parameters. Click here for more details.
