Stoke City have signed forward, George Hirst from Ipswich Town for an undisclosed transfer fee.
Hirst’s move to Stoke has ended his three-and-a-half year spell at Portman Road where he scored 30 goals in 125 total appearances, having initially joined on loan in the second half of the 2022-23 season which saw him net seven goals in 23 appearances before his move became permanent that summer.
Hirst however enjoyed his best campaign yet in the 2025-26 season with 11 goals in 44 appearances but with Gary O’Neil now in charge following Kieran McKenna’s exit in June, the new boss has brought in fresh attacking reinforcement with Hirst no longer in his plans.
Ipswich consequently managed to agree an undisclosed fee with Stoke for the 27-year-old, who has signed a three-year contract with a club option for a further year at the BET365 Stadium.
Hirst has vowed to deliver goals and improve his game during his time at Stoke
“I’m here to score goals and put in the performances that Stoke fans are going to enjoy.
“Everyone wants to be somewhere that is going to help make them a better player and somewhere they feel like they can help, and I feel like this is both of those things for me.
“When you work as hard as possible at the training ground, live right at home and do all the little one percents, all those things do add up to success.
“So, if you’ve got a squad of boys who are all doing that, all pulling in the same direction and fighting for the same cause, you won’t go wrong.”
Hirst began his career at Sheffield Wednesday where he graduated through their academy to make two senior appearances in the first half of the 2016-17 season, before he joined Belgium’s OH Leuven on loan in 2018-19 season where he netted three goals in 23 appearances.
Leicester subsequently signed him in summer 2019 but he managed just two appearances for the Foxes that season before he had loan spells at Rotherham, Portsmouth and Blackburn, across which he scored 15 goals in 89 combined appearances – of which his 15 goals all came at Portsmouth in 2021-22 season.
Hirst subsequently made a loan move to Ipswich which ultimately turned into a permanent transfer in a spell which saw him achieve successive promotions from League One to Premier League as runners-up, before he helped them achieved instant promotion back to the top flight with another runner-up finish last season.
Having represented England at youth level, Hirst switched his senior eligibility to Scotland and has produced one goal in 10 senior caps for the Tartan Army, with his only international goal having been scored in a 4-0 friendly away win over Liechtenstein in June 2025.
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