da betobet： Stoke City are a club on the rise. Tony Pulis helped established them in the Premier League during his seven year tenure at the Britannia, now followed by fellow Welshman Mark Hughes since 2013.
da bet7： Hughes has moved the club on again in his short time at the Potters however, changing the style of play and significantly improving personnel. Now in his third season, Hughes’ ‘name’ has helped attract a raft of stellar players to the Staffordshire club – the likes of Bojan Krkic from Barcelona and Xherdan Shaqiri from Bayern Munich no doubt attracted to Stoke by the presence of the Welshman.
The club has moved on from the long-ball style so prevalent under Pulis, his sides often praised for their steely toughness but widely panned for their footballing tactics. In less than three seasons, Hughes’s has moved the team up a level, an emphasis on the passing game both a reason and a consequence of the star names now playing in the red and white stripes of Stoke City.
And in his latest signing, Gianelli Imbula, he could have pulled off yet another transfer coup, one that could take the Potters up yet another level. The defensive midfielder has already impressed in his two games played since his arrival from Porto for £18.3m in January and could be set for even bigger things.
Obviously not bought in for his goal-scoring he has nevertheless found the net already, an excellent long range strike against Bournemouth giving his career in the Potteries a great start. But more importantly, Imbula’s presence in the heart of the midfield gives Stoke a real energy and strength where they need it most, particularly following the departure of Stephen N’Zonzi to Sevilla.
N’Zonzi had an excellent campaign last time out, the ability to break up play and set-up counter attacks a key focus under Hughes. Imbula will be asked to a similar job and has the same range of ability to do so. Strong yet mobile, he has good technical ability and a great range of passing to compliment his more physical attributes.
The Welsh manager has always had a preference for this type of player, the aforementioned N’zonzi and Christopher Samba both being employed by Hughes during spells at Blackburn, QPR and Stoke, while he also signed Nigel De Jong when at Manchester City.
Clearly the midfield enforcer role is one that Hughes puts a strong emphasis upon and Imbula should fit the role nicely.
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Having played alongside the likes of Andre Ayew and Dimitri Payet in a successful Marseille side, his spell at Porto may not have worked out, but he has the potential to re-ignite his career at Stoke. Labelled as the next Claude Makelele – as with most French-African’s who play defensive midfield – he is actually more akin to Patrick Viera, his tall frame and althletic ability seeing him able to surge forward and run with the ball far more than the former Chelsea man ever did.
Porto actually bought him with the intention of selling him on, although at a much greater price. Such was his lack of form for the Portuguese side however, they were forced to cut their losses and sell him early, although they still made a small £3m profit on the player. The mere fact that he was bought by a club regularly in the Champions League bodes well for an ambitious side like Stoke.
Some players just don’t work out at certain clubs for whatever reason, but if the potential seen in Imbula by the Porto scouts can be in any way replicated at Stoke, the midfielder could be one of the buys of the season.
The Brittania side are one of many upper-mid table sides looking to ‘kick on’ in the Premier League. The new TV deal will give untold riches to sides like Stoke, and their ability to attract star-names with the promise of big wages will give them preference over many of the more traditonal names across Europe.
If Mark Hughes continues to develop this side on it’s current path, the addition of Imbula could bet yet another step-up the ladder for this rapidly improving Premier League outfit.
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