Luke Graham has left Dundee to join Stoke City for an undisclosed club-record fee, ending the path that took him from the Dundee FC Academy to the first team. The move gives Dundee a new transfer benchmark and takes away a 22-year-old defender who had become one of their most visible young players.
Luke Graham and Dundee
Graham's final spell at Dundee came after a season that pushed him well beyond academy prospect status. He played 40 games across all competitions in the 2025/26 campaign and won the Young Player and Players’ Player of the Year awards, a run that also brought Scotland U21 selection.
His rise was built in steps. He had loan spells at Lochee United, Albion Rovers, Montrose and Falkirk before his first-team debut in July 2024 against Annan Athletic. Weeks later, he made his first league start in a 2-2 draw at Tannadice, then returned to Falkirk on loan in February 2025 until the end of the 2024/25 season.
Stoke City for Graham
By the 2025/26 campaign, Graham was regular in the heart of the defence for Scotland's 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification campaign. In May, he was included in Scotland's pre-camp training squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and was selected on the bench for the friendly against Curacao. That form is the clearest reason Stoke City moved now, even if Dundee did not disclose the fee.
Graham said Dundee had been massive for him and that he would not be where he was without the club taking a chance on him as a young kid coming through the academy. He also said: "I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone around the club, all the supporters, all the teammates and everyone I’ve worked with."
Club record fee
He added: "I’ve made a lot of really good friends along the way that I’ll stay in touch with." He also said: "Pulling on a Dundee shirt was a really proud feeling for me, and I’ll be supporting the club wherever I go next." Dundee said it would like to thank Luke for his efforts in dark blue and wished him all the best for the future.
The unanswered part is the size of the record. Dundee has set a club high by moving Graham on to Stoke City, but the exact fee remains undisclosed, so the benchmark is clear even if the number is not. For Dundee, the sale caps a sharp rise for a homegrown defender; for Stoke City, it brings in a player whose recent work was already carrying into Scotland age-group and senior training squads.
