Joshua Ishaele Jacob-Heron Laurent (born 6 May 1995) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. Laurent began his professional career with Queens Park Rangers in 2013. After a loan spell at

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team o ...

he moved on to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

in January 2015 and was loaned out to Newport County. In January 2016, Laurent joined

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

on a free transfer. He went on to play for

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

and Shrewsbury Town before earning a move to Championship side

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in July 2020. In his first season with the Royals Laurent won the clubs player of the season award. After two years with Reading, Laurent joined

in June 2022.

Club career

Early career

Laurent was born in Leytonstone and attended

Beal High School Beal High School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Redbridge, Greater London, England. The school begins at Year 7 and continues with compulsory schooling through Year 11. Years 12 and 13 for ...

. Laurent began his career in the youth systems at Chelsea, Redbridge (where his father Burt was coach) and

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

and signed a scholarship deal with the latter club in 2011. After a trial with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Queens Park Rangers

Laurent moved into the academy at Queens Park Rangers prior to the beginning of the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season. made 20 appearances in the youth team's victorious 2012–13 Professional U18 Development League 2 campaign and played the full 90 minutes of the 1–0 win over Huddersfield Town in the final. Laurent signed his first professional contract in May 2013, a one-year deal. Laurent continued to play in the Development Squad through the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons. Laurent signed for

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

side

on a one-month loan on 17 February 2014. He made the first senior appearance of his career with a start in a 2–2 draw with

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

five days later. Laurent won praise for his performances from manager

Alan Devonshire Alan Ernest Devonshire (born 13 April 1956) is an English former professional footballer who is the current manager of Maidenhead United. He was a wide midfielder who played for West Ham United, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1980, and Watford, ...

and remained at

Cressing Road Cressing Road, also known as the Dunmow Group Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Braintree, Essex, and the home ground of Braintree Town, and formally their reserve side. It currently has a capacity of 4,222. History ...

for a second month, before departing after his 16th appearance on 12 April. He departed QPR on 14 January 2015. The departure of Laurent caused a "reaction" at Loftus Road, with the supporters questioning the club's commitment to its younger players. On 23 January, Rangers' Head of Football Operations

Les Ferdinand Leslie Ferdinand MBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and television pundit, who is currently the director of football at Queens Park Rangers. A striker, his playing career included notable sp ...

revealed that he had been unable to convince Laurent that there was a pathway from the Development Squad to the first team.

Brentford

On 14 January 2015, Laurent moved across West

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to sign for Championship side

on a one-and-a-half-year Development Squad deal for an undisclosed fee. Laurent signed for

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side Newport County on a 28-day youth loan on 19 August 2015, which was later extended to 14 October. He made his debut (the first

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

appearance of his career) as a 74th-minute substitute for

Scott Boden Scott David Boden (born 19 December 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Matlock Town. Career Boden was born in Streatham. In 2008, Boden was loaned out from Sheffield United to play five matches for IFK ...

in a 3–2 defeat to Leyton Orient three days later. He made his first start for the club on 1 September, playing the opening 73 minutes of the Exiles' shootout defeat to Swindon Town in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

first round. Laurent was left out of incoming manager John Sheridan's first squad on 3 October and was recalled by Brentford five days later, having made four appearances. He made his only first team appearance in the League Cup first round versus

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

on 11 August, playing the full 90 minutes of the 4–0 defeat. Laurent failed to feature in another first team squad before his contract was terminated by mutual consent on 1 February 2016. He made 21 appearances and scored five goals for the Development Squad.

Hartlepool United

On 1 February 2016, Laurent joined League Two club

on a free transfer. Laurent scored his first and only goal for the club in a 3–1 defeat to Leyton Orient on 22 October 2016 and remained with the club until February 2017, by which time he had made 33 appearances.

Wigan Athletic

On 1 February 2017, Laurent joined Championship club

on a two-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made just one appearance before the end of the 2016–17 season, at the end of which the Latics were relegated to League One. He scored his only goal for Wigan in a 2–1 EFL Cup win against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

on 8 August 2017. On 31 August 2017,

signed Laurent on loan for the rest of the 2017–18 season. He played 22 games for the Shakers scoring once as they suffered relegation to League Two.

Shrewsbury Town

On 23 July 2018, Laurent joined League One side Shrewsbury Town on a two-year deal. He was a first-team regular during his first season at the club, making a notable contribution in the third-round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, where he both won the penalty that led to Shrewsbury's equaliser and then went on to score the winning goal against Championship side

. Laurent became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after his contract expired at the end of the

2019–20 EFL League One The 2019–20 EFL League One (referred to as the Sky Betting and Gaming, Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons) was the 16th season of EFL League One, Football League One under its current title and the 28th season under its current league di ...

season.

Reading

On 28 July 2020, Laurent joined Championship club

on a two-year contract. He scored his first goal for Reading in a 4–2 win over Blackburn Rovers on 27 October 2020. Laurent made 46 appearances, scoring three goals in

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

as the Royals missed out on a play-off position finishing in seventh. Prior to Reading's last game of the season, on 8 May 2021, Laurent was announced as the clubs player of the season. In 2021–22, Laurent played 42 times as Reading struggled at the foot of table, finishing four points above the relegation zone.

Stoke City

On 21 June 2022, Laurent joined

a three-year contract. He scored his first goal for Stoke on 29 January 2023 in an

tie against

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

. He scored his first league goals in a 3–1 win against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

on 21 February 2023. In the 2022–23 season, Laurent scored five goals in 36 appearances as Stoke finished in 16th. He was appointed club captain by Alex Neil ahead of the 2023–24 season.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

Player of the Season:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laurent, Josh 1995 births Living people English men's footballers English people of Jamaican descent Men's association football midfielders Brentford F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players National League (English football) players Footballers from Leytonstone Newport County A.F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Bury F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Men's association football central defenders English Football League players Black British sportsmen