When Ryan Shawcross joined Stoke on a season long loan for the start of 2007/2008 season in the Championship, the defender was relatively unknown outside of the confines of Manchester United’s training ground. Fast forward, a couple of years and the player has been the subject of interest from former club Man Utd, Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham.

The Stoke defender certainly seems to be one who slipped through the net at Old Trafford and after impressing Tony Pulis so much during his first five months on loan at the Britannia stadium, the Stoke manager bid to buy the player permanently in the January transfer window in 2008. Shawcross had scored 2 goals in his first two games for the Potters and at 6ft 5, the then 20 year old was a tremendous threat at opposition set pieces as well as being commanding in his own penalty box.

The £1million transfer, a fee that rose to £2million after Stoke gained promotion during Shawcross’s first season at the club, has turned out to be a tremendous bargain. All in all, during his first campaign in the Championship, he scored seven goals, a fantastic return for a centre half, but it has been his defensive play which won him admirers during his first season in the top flight.

His leadership skills at the back and his ability to win aerial duels with strikers, commanding on crosses and comfortable with ball at feet, are all skills that belie his relatively young age and at 22, he only will develop into a more composed and assured centre back. Relative to his height, Shawcross is also tremendously quick which makes him a very promising candidate to become a top class international defender

After making his debut for the England Under 21s under Stuart Pearce, Shawcross is also no doubt on the radar of England boss Fabio Capello and he could be in line for a squad call-up in the not too distant future. Back in August, Pulis certainly thought the young defender had the potential to step up to international level:

“I have no doubt about it that one day Ryan will play for England. It isn’t just the fact that he is big, but he is also extremely fast and I think that is vital if you are to go on and play for your country at the highest level. We brought him here as a relatively unknown player, I don’t even think he had played that many games for Manchester United’s reserve team. The amount he has come on over the past few years is unbelievable really, but he knows he has to keep his head down, keep on working hard and keep on doing the things he is doing.”

Whether his future lies with Stoke is another question and although Stoke manager Tony Pulis has said he is determined to keep hold of the player, in recent days stating it would take ‘an absolute fortune’ for him to sell the player, Shawcross’s future may lie at one of the big four. The Daily Express have revealed that Shawcross’s price tag maybe as big as £20million, but in any case, any potential sale would dwarf the small £2million fee Stoke paid for him 2 years ago.