Apparently the new hotness for 2025-26 is to return to where you were loaned in 2024-25. Days after Alfie Dorrington returned to Aberdeen for the 2025-26 season, fellow Tottenham Hotspur defender Ashley Phillips is returning to Stoke City for next season’s campaign on a year-long loan.
Sure? Why not! Phillips is coming off of a season in which he made 35 starts in central defense for Stoke, playing 3000+ minutes in the second division. They quite like him out there in Stoke, and after spending a few preseason weeks at Spurs he must not be deemed quite ready for the rigors of Premier League football under Thomas Frank.
Phillips’ contract runs until 2028, so there’s no immediate rush. Another Championship loan might feel a little disappointing to some, but Phillips is only 19, and putting in those numbers in the Championship as a teenager is honestly pretty good. He’ll have another chance next season to improve and hopefully get into Tottenham’s first team, and if not he’s certainly done well enough on loan that Spurs will probably be able to flip him for a profit.
Probably no reason to give up on him quite yet, and if this season is anything like last season, he’ll be a key player again for the Potters. Stoke finished 18th in the table last season.
Phillips, Dorrington, Alejo Veliz, and Damola Ajayi are all out on loan this season for Spurs, while Josh Keeley was sold to Luton Town with a buy-back clause.