Tom Cannon secured a Deadline Day move to Stoke City after it became clear over the summer he was not in Steve Cooper’s plans at Leicester City.
Despite the fact Leicester City spent £7 million to sign the youngster from Everton just a year ago, the club looked to facilitate an exit for Tom Cannon this summer.
Having scored just two Championship goals last season as opportunities proved hard to come by under Enzo Maresca, Cannon would have hoped the arrival of Steve Cooper would see him given a chance.
However, this is not what materialised, with the fact Cooper opted to bring on a winger in Stephy Mavididi rather than centre-forward Cannon when Patson Daka went off injured in the last friendly of the summer telling.
In the end a sale was not agreed, but with Cannon unlikely to feature for Leicester this season the 21-year-old signed for Stoke City for the season.
Tom Cannon opens up on year at Leicester City
Having impressed on loan at Preston in the 2022/23 season, Leicester had seen enough to sign Cannon permanently from Everton following their relegation to the Championship last summer.
With Cooper making it clear he would not be depending on Cannon in the Premier League this season, it will have been a tough period for the youngster and he has now opened up on that experience.
Speaking to StokeOnTrentLive, Cannon spoke on the situation as he said: “I suppose it’s been hard.”
“Obviously as a player you want to be playing so when you’re not it’s difficult but it’s how you balance it.
“I’ve been going into training every day and giving it my all. For whatever reason I haven’t had the minutes but when I have played I think I’ve done well.”
Stoke City loan offers Cannon fresh start
It was difficult for Cannon to force his way into the side last season as he saw Jamie Vardy, Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho ahead of him in the pecking order.
However, with Iheanacho leaving upon the end of his contract, Daka injured for the first months of the season and Vardy missing all but the first game of pre-season, Cannon would have felt he could be in line to get his chance in the Premier League.
That did not happen, though, as Vardy made a surprise early return to take up the starting centre-forward spot for the beginning of the season and Cannon watched on from the bench.
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Having been handed the number nine shirt at Stoke, Cannon should benefit from being the main main and told StokeOnTrentLive that this is an opportunity he will relish, saying: “Hopefully I can take that over here now and hit the ground running.
“There’s no better feeling in football, especially as a striker, to be scoring goals so hopefully I can get back to that as soon as possible.”
If Cannon has a strong season at Stoke then who knows what the future could hold for the one-cap Ireland international.