Nathan Lowe Joins Hibernian on Loan from Stoke City
Hibernian have turned to the English lower leagues for their new focal point in attack, landing Nathan Lowe on a season-long loan from Stoke City – and tying him to a long-term future in Staffordshire in the process.
The 20-year-old, capped by England at Under-19 level, arrives in Edinburgh with a reputation that already stretches well beyond his age. David Gray has been open all summer about wanting a “physical presence” and a “natural goalscorer” to lead his line. Lowe ticks both boxes.
A striker built in the EFL
Raised in Stoke’s academy, Lowe has taken the hard road into senior football. No shortcuts, no soft landings. He has already worked his way through loan spells with Walsall, Stockport County and Wycombe Wanderers, learning the unforgiving rhythms of Leagues One and Two.
It was at Walsall where his name really started to travel. In League Two he delivered 18 goals and seven assists in just 30 appearances, a remarkable return that earned him the English League Two Young Player of the Year Award. Those numbers turned him from a promising youngster into a serious prospect.
Stoke moved quickly to protect their asset. Lowe made his senior debut in February 2023, then signed a four-and-a-half-year deal the following January. Now, as he heads north to the Scottish Premiership, that commitment has been extended again, this time through to 2029, underlining how highly the Championship club rate him.
His senior record in a Stoke shirt is still modest – eight starts, 21 substitute appearances, two goals – but the club clearly believe the raw materials are there. Hibs are banking on being the ones to shape them.
Gray gets his man
Gray has been searching for a forward who can handle the physical scrap of Scottish football and still come alive in the penalty area. Lowe arrives with evidence he can do both.
“He brings a great energy and enthusiasm about his play, as well as a physical presence,” Gray told the club’s website. For a manager looking to inject intensity into his front line, that matters almost as much as the goals.
The numbers back up the eye test. Last season, split between promotion-chasing Stockport and League One rivals Wycombe, Lowe still found the net 11 times. Different clubs, different styles, same outcome: he scores.
Gray also highlighted his variety in front of goal and the volume of senior minutes he has already banked. For a 20-year-old, Lowe is no longer feeling his way into men’s football. He is in it, and thriving.
Stoke’s long game, Hibs’ short-term gain
This move suits everyone. Stoke secure their striker on a contract to 2029 and send him into a new, demanding environment. Hibs gain a centre-forward with the profile to trouble Premiership defences and the hunger of a player who knows his parent club are watching closely.
Stoke sporting director Jonathan Walters made that clear, stressing how Lowe has already benefitted from his time in Leagues One and Two and pointing to his decision to test himself in Scotland as a sign of his maturity. The added lure is Europe: Hibs can offer the kind of continental exposure that EFL loans simply cannot.
For Lowe, it is a step up in spotlight as much as standard. A club of Hibernian’s size, with European fixtures on the calendar and expectations to match, will ask different questions of him. Can he carry the weight of a frontline? Can he turn promise into end product when the pressure tightens and the margins shrink?
Hibs believe he can. Stoke believe he will. Now it is down to Nathan Lowe to prove that the “natural goalscorer” tag travels just as well as he does.
