Football
Exclusive: Stoke City Set to Tie Down Ben Wilmot as Defender Agrees New Long-Term Deal
Stoke City defender Ben Wilmot is close to signing a new three-year deal with the club. He has been a key player for the team currently in third place in the Championship. Wilmot's contract expires next summer, but Stoke City is keen to keep him as they push for promotion to the Premier League.
Cardiff City FC v Stoke City FC- Sky Bet Championship by Athena Pictures | Getty Images
Stoke City defender Ben Wilmot is close to signing a new deal with the club, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal.
The experienced 26-year-old centre-back is out of contract next summer and the Potters are desperate to keep him.
Wilmot has impressed this season at the heart of the defence, with Mark Robins’ ambitious side flying high in third place in the Championship.
As exclusively revealed by SportsBoom just over a month ago, Wilmot has been offered a new three-year deal to stay at the bet365 Stadium.
And our sources have now learnt that the former Stevenage and Watford defender is ready to put pen to paper.
Wilmot is thriving under Robins with the Potters having won eight and drawn three of their 15 fixtures so far this term.
Alongside defenders Ashley Phillips and Bosun Lawal, who have also played in central defence this season – and full-backs Aaron Cresswell and Junior Tchamadeu, Stoke have kept six cleansheets already this season.
And Stoke see Wilmot as a key player in their charge to try and win promotion back to the Premier League after a seven-year absence.
The club were relegated from the top-flight at the end of the 2017-18 season and are hungry to return to the promised land.
PERFORMER
Wilmot has been a consistent performer for Stoke ever since signing from Watford, with whom he won promotion to the Premier League.
He joined the Potters on a four-year deal in June 2021 and signed a new three-year contract extension in May 2023.
But with less than six months left on his deal the Staffordshire outfit are keen to wrap up negotiations before the New Year.
Wilmot has played 153 games in the Championship for the Potters and is now in his fifth season with the club.
He won the club’s Player of the Year award in his second season with the club and is a player admired by many of the club’s loyal supporters.
Neil has been a journalist for longer than he'd care to remember, having written for national newspapers and respected publications for over 25 years. For the last three years he has worked freelance for BBC Sport, working on the production desk as a sub-editor and also as a writer, covering a whole range of sports.