Amidst news breaking that Whelan has signed a further year extension to his contract, keeping him at the club until 2018, reports are spreading that Stoke are interested in Juventus’ holding midfielder Mario Lemina. The Gabon international spent last season on loan at Juventus from Marseille, and was snapped up by the Old Lady in April for a figure around 9.5 million euros. But with rumours circulating that Allegri does not see the 22 year old as part of his plans, Stoke appear ready to snap up the talented midfielder.
Lemina is widely considered to be a central midfielder, but with his pace and power has also featured on the right flank as a wide midfielder and full back. Lemina’s pace and work rate mean that he will rarely allow an opposition player to coast past. This coupled with his footballing intelligence means he is often seen winning the ball, via an interception or well-timed tackle, then quickly recycling play to a team mate, or beating his man and advancing the play himself. Despite only making 10 appearances last season for Juventus, Lemina made a good impression finding himself on the scoresheet twice. An excellent showing against Napoli, and a man of the match performance against Atalanta, earned him a large deal of credibility in Italy. Despite Allegri’s views on the player he is viewed as a highly talented young man, and many believe a move gaining him more play time is perfect for his development.
For Stoke fans, the wait for the club’s first signing appears to be almost over as 19 year old Egyptian wonderkid Ramadan Sobhi looks almost certain to be a Potter. He’s arriving from Egyptian Premier League champions Al Ahly, managed by ex-Fulham boss Martin Jol. It was Jol who revealed Sobhi’s departure from the club and, with Stoke being the only club who have been known to have made a formal approach for Ramadan, it’s certainly looking likely that the Potters have won his signature. Sobhi is understood to be signing a five year deal at Stoke and come at a price between €3.5m and €5.8m (probably from the former to latter with add-ons).
Last week was where the serious news about Sobhi began to emerge and with that signalled and influx of thoughts, opinions and support from hundreds of Egyptian fans across all Stoke City social medias. For example, after a tweet that I sent regarding Sobhi, here’s some examples of what some of Sobhi’s fans had to say:
@Ben_Rowley56 Good job..Stoke City will be granted CL place with Sobhi.Congratulation for ever best signs in PL
So yeah, I think it’s safe to say ‘Ramadona’ is one of the best players that the Egyptians have ever seen. Indeed, his transfer fee is the highest in Egyptian Premier League history.
Now obviously, in England we do not get much coverage of Egyptian football so it might be hard for us Stoke fans to have a balanced on opinion on Sobhi; similarly for his fans in Egypt who obviously have a love and bias for their player. During the last week, I have received a lot of information regarding the Sobhi saga (including exclusives and opinion pieces) from Egyptian and African football news website KingFut. To get a more accurate and detailed opinion on Ramadona, TBPTV asked KingFut whether they would answer some questions for us. Very kindly, they did:
TBPTV – Can you give fans a brief overview of Sobhi’s career so far?
KingFut – Sobhi caught attention in the Sheikh Zayed tournament with Al Ahly’s U-17 team in 2014, impressing in games against Atletico Madrid and Botafogo. His debut with the senior team was that same year, and has appeared 67 times since then in all competitions.
TBPTV – What would you say Sobhi’s biggest strength is?
KingFut – His biggest strength is his skill. He’s absolutely mesmerising with the ball in his feet. He could outwit most defenders in the tightest of spaces; one second he’s here, the other he’s gone.
TBPTV – And his weakness?
KingFut – His weakness could probably be his goal record, it’s decent for a youngster but he still could improve in that regards.
TBPTV – How do you think Sobhi will adapt to English football?
KingFut – I think he won’t have a huge problem with adapting to the physical nature of English football. Sobhi is pretty strong and athletic, he’s fast and has got great stamina. He would probably have some problems with the language and adapting to a different culture, but I think he’s got a professional mindset even though it’s still early to tell for sure.
TBPTV – How far can you see Sobhi going in his career?
KingFut – It’s tough to predict where a player would go because of the many different factors and how much Stoke would help him grow. In terms of talent and ability, the boy could be one of the best Egyptian players of all time. He already is one of the biggest talents ever in Egyptian history at his age, and one of the best in the country at the moment.
TBPTV – How big is this story for Egyptian football?
KingFut – The story is pretty big because he’s the biggest transfer to go from the Egyptian league, smashing the previous record sales.
TBPTV – Egyptian fans seem to love Ramadan, do you think they will continue to follow him in England?
KingFut – Egyptian fans will follow him closely to say the least and cafes in Egypt will probably show every single Stoke City game in hopes of seeing Sobhi on the field. Stoke social media accounts will get over flooded with Egyptians
TBPTV – Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about Sobhi or to the fans of Stoke City?
KingFut – To Stoke fans: you’ve got a real gem of a player in Sobhi, so enjoy seeing him play and take care of our boy.
It looks like we’d better get ready: one of the most naturally gifted Egyptians of all time is coming to Stoke City, as is half of Egypt!
Huge thank you to KingFut (www.kingfut.com, @King_Fut) for taking part in the Q&A, they’ve got loads of fantastic information and opinions on Sobhi on their website to check out! Also thank you to all the Egyptian fans who sent support to me, TBPTV and all Stoke City fans!
Reports broke earlier this morning suggest that Stoke have reached an agreement around 6 million Euros with Al Ahly for their promising winger Ramadan Sobhi. So what can Sobhi bring to the Premier League?
Well the first guarantee is that Sobhi will cause a surge in the employment of physios. His devastating turn of speed, and ability to turn sharply will leave full backs waking in cold sweats the week before knowing they face this dangerous wonder kid. If you don’t believe me check out the Egyptians ankle shattering ability for yourself:
It was confirmed on Monday morning, by Mark Bowen no less, that Stoke are interested in bringing Fenerbahce’s Nani back to the Premier League, despite the player apparently agreeing to join Spanish outfit Valencia. Amid the uncertain future and elongated contract saga of Marko Arnautovic, Stoke are actively looking to prepare themselves with a Plan B should the Austrian look to move to pastures new. Nani certainly fits that bill: he has plenty of Premier League experience, is a box of tricks and, most importantly, is direct.
Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha, or Nani, is a 29 year old forward from Portugal. Nani began his career at Sporting Lisbon, before making a colossal (at the time) £22m move to Manchester United as a mere 20 year old. He scored 40 goals in 230 appearances and eight seasons with the Red Devils. The arrival of Louis van Gaal saw Nani shipped back to Lisbon in 2014 on a season long loan, and then sold completely to Fenerbahce the following season. Last season he scored 8 goals in 28 league games with his Turkish club and helped them to finish second in the table. He is also a regular figure for his national team and is currently representing Portugal during Euro 2016, at the time of writing this they are due to play Wales in the semi-final on Wednesday.
He’s in the team purely because there has been no goalkeeper speculation as yet, probably thanks to the outrageous performances of Jack Butland. I feel as though he might be sending us a message with his decision to wear gloves when its really sunny. Does the Frenchman fancy a go between the sticks?
LB- Charlie Taylor
Taylor picked up player of the season for Leeds after his performances at full back and up the left side last season. It looks as though we face competition from Liverpool but it not yet apparent how much substance there is behind the story. The 22-year-old shows a lot of promise and will likely be looking for a big role within the squad.
CB- Neven Subotic
The Serbian centre-back has appeared 258 times for Borussia Dortmund, scoring 18 goals. He also has a wealth of international experience, making a total of 36 competitive appearances.
If you have had your head in a hole since the end of the season (and no one can blame you for how it ended) you may not have heard about our chase for Nathan Redmond. Reports breaking recently have been suggesting that Stoke are on the verge of signing Norwich and England under 21’s winger for a reported figure of 10 million pounds.
Now that may seem a large figure for a 22 year old who has spent a great deal of his career playing in the championship, but it can actually be seen as quite a shrewd deal. First, the increase in value of home grown commodities must be taken into account. Figures automatically sky rocket when attempting to sign a domestic player, due to the rule requiring 8 domestic players within the squad, and due to our European aspirations this is even more important. Secondly, Redmond is one of the hottest prospects in the country. A player who has followed the traditional route going from the under 18’s national side to the under 21’s, where he played a pivotal role in winning the Toulon Tournament last month. Finally, the figure will be high due to the expect departure of Arnie, due to the widely reported issues with getting his pen to paper the club can, to some degree, be held to ransom due to our urgent need of wide players.
Late on Saturday night, The Sun broke the news that Stoke City are interested in signing Borussia Dortmund’s Neven Subotic. According to the newspaper, Sunderland are also in the chase for the defender and both clubs have spoken to the player’s agents to discuss personal terms before approaching Dortmund regarding their player’s availability and expected fee. The player is known to be wanting a move to the Premier League and may be looking for a move after getting limited game time for his current club, however Dortmund may want to keep hold of him due to the loss of their captain, Mats Hummels. The move could either be a full transfer or a season long loan.
Subotic is a 27 year old centre back from Serbia. He moved through the ranks at fellow German club Mainz before making his switch to Dortmund in 2008. He broke into the first team straight away and has currently played over 250 games for Dortmund, scoring 18 goals. He’s also has 36 caps ad two goals with his national team, fighting for a place alongside compatriots such as Nemanja Vidic. Despite his initial emergence for club and country, Subotic hasn’t made such an impact in recent seasons: his position at Dortmund has been lost in the last couple of years and he only made 11 league appearances last season Meanwhile, he wasn’t selected at all for Serbia’s qualification matches for this Summer’s European tournament with manager Dick Advocaat suggesting that Subotic’s national career is over; which is concerning for someone who should be entering the prime of his career.
Belgian midfielder linked with move to the Potteries
Stories have emerged this week regarding Stoke City and their alleged £11m bid for Zenit St. Petersburg and Belgium central midfielder Axel Witsel. Zenit confirmed that Stoke moved for Witsel this Winter with a similar bid, obviously this was unsuccessful but the Russian club also alluded to the fact that they would “fail” to keep him this Summer with Witsel’s agents dreaming of moving their client onto a bigger league. The £11m is more than likely not enough to tempt Zenit into selling straight away; but with one year left on his contract Witsel himself admitted that his club would not be looking for an extortionate amount in exchange for his services. So, what exactly would Witsel bring to Stoke City?
Witsel began his footballing career at Standard Liege, playing for them until mid-2011, when he switched to Portuguese side Benfica. He spent a singular season there before impressing Zenit enough to make a huge £30m move for him; at the time he was a 23 year old exciting prospect and it was around this time that he became one of the first names on the team sheet for his national side. I covered Witsel in my ‘One For The Money’ blog a couple of weeks ago (hint hint) and in there I identified Witsel as an all round midfield powerhouse, chipping in with his fair share of goals and assists as well as satisfying his defensive duties and turning defense into attack.
It seems like we can’t go a week without being linked with Saido Berahino at the minute. so we thought we would take a closer look and see how he could help develop our squad.
Goals
Saido Berahino really set the league alight in the 2014/2015 season sparking rumors of him joining Liverpool or Spurs for a fee of around 23 million. No real surprise really when you look at his stats from that year; He played 32 games in which he scored 14 goals which equates to just under a goal every other game.
He has all the attributes Stoke are missing when it comes to scoring goals in and around the box which were seriously missing in the 2015/2016 season. The 14 goals he scored in the 2014/2015 season all came from inside the box and he looked clinical when given the chance. His stats from the season just finished aren’t as impressive as he only made 17 appearances and 14 of them came from the bench due to a bust up with Tony Pulis regarding his attitude, him seeking a move away from The Hawthornes and the addition of Salomon Rondon and Ricky Lambert to their frontline.
How have our new recruits been in their debut season?
This time last year, who would have thought that we’d have had a season with Xherdan Shaqiri, Ibrahim Afellay and Glen Johnson in our team? Mark Hughes and Stoke City made that a reality last Summer by tempting these talents, among a few others, to set a course for the Britannia Stadium. In addition to these new faces, Stoke also smashed their brand new transfer record by bringing in Giannelli Imbula right at the death of the Winter window. A lot of these signings showed pedigree, others promise and one was celebrated so much that he had his very own press conference. Even though a couple of Premier League veterans adorned the red and white for the first time, a lot of these incomings has yet to experience English football. Now that the season has drawn to a close, it’s a good time to look back on how the new Stokies have got on in 2015/16. In order of their arrival date:
Stoke swooped for their second Hannover striker in a year with Joselu. Although known as ‘The Killer’ at former clubs due to his poaching ability; he came to England as somewhat of an unknown quantity and, with a price tag of almost £6m, had fans wondering exactly what the Spaniards’ role at Stoke would be. It emerged that Joselu could be a younger, stronger, faster version of Peter Crouch and could end up being his long term replacement. It’s been a difficult campaign for Stoke’s strikers this season as none of them have had a consistent run in the team or a consistent group of teammates to play with; but that didn’t stop Joselu from making some important contributions. These include winning a penalty on his debut at White Hart Lane, scoring a goal in the 4-3 thriller at Everton and beautifully chipping Heurelho Gomes during Stoke’s 2-1 win at Watford. However, in 22 PL appearances this season, Joselu scored four goals and created one assist, which didn’t bring him close to being top goalscorer for his club this season and will want to add more of these next term. His workrate in the games that he has played in has been decent and could go on to better things next season but Joselu will want more game time and become more prolific if he wants to do so.
