Leicester City signed Tom Cannon from Everton for a fee of £7.5 million last summer. The deal was puzzling, given the Foxes’ abundance of forward options in Jamie Vardy, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Patson Daka.
With four strikers vying for a single spot in Enzo Maresca’s system, the 21-year-old hardly had any game time last season in the EFL Championship, managing just three league starts. However, despite Cannon’s minimal game time, he scored two goals and gave an assist.
Cannon’s situation at Leicester didn’t improve this summer. He was sent out on a season-long loan to Stoke City after Steve Cooper made it clear that the young forward wasn’t ready for the Premier League. Cannon is a versatile forward, capable of making runs in behind or dropping deep to link up with the midfielders. However, while he can do both, he does not excel at either, making it a classic case of “jack of all trades but master of none.”
Tom Cannon’s slow start at Stoke
The Irishman did not have a great start at Stoke. Cannon failed to score in his first four competitive games for the Potters and was withdrawn at halftime against Middlesbrough. However, it was not Cannon’s fault as he was barely getting any service. In his first three league games, the striker recorded a total of just one shot, with an xG of 0. Stoke as a team managed just four shots on target in those games, recording an xG of 2.1.
Despite his struggles, manager Narcis Pelach kept his faith in Cannon, and the striker delivered in his fifth game for the club. The youngster scored four goals against Portsmouth (some of which were fantastic finishes) to inspire Stoke to a 6-1 victory.
A strong season by Cannon could put him in contention to be Leicester’s main striker next season. The Ireland international believes he has the quality to play in the Premier League and recently stated that he felt a “tiny bit of frustration” when he was loaned out.
Cannon felt “tiny bit of frustration”
“I kind of felt a tiny bit of frustration from my end because I wanted that challenge to play in the Premier League and show everyone what I could do. I thought, given the minutes, I could perform.” Cannon said.
“To be fair, I had a good chat with Steve Cooper before I left, and we came to the conclusion that it was best for me to go on loan. I accepted the club’s decision, his decision, and then it comes to a point where you’re just figuring out what’s best. And I’m at Stoke now.”
Cannon’s loan spell has been inconsistent so far, but as Stoke’s number nine for the season, he will get a lot of game time to work on his consistency and prove his worth to Leicester. With Stoke struggling this season, it will be a good test for Cannon to show more clinical finishing, given the low amount of chances he can expect to get.
