Mark Hughes has led Stoke City valiantly during his time in charge in Staffordshire, and he’s continued on a positive path this season, with the Potters looking comfortable in the league but still needing more to contend for European football.
Between now and the January transfer window deadline on Tuesday, Stoke may see some deals and the fans in the Transfer Tavern certainly hope so – expressing their desires for fringe players to earn opportunities elsewhere as well as sign new faces.
Stoke’s squad is pretty stocked with talent and that means many who would be important elsewhere don’t quite find themselves in the same situation at the Bet365 Stadium, although a loan move could fix the issue for all parties – and it wouldn’t see Hughes lose exciting players.
Our landlord has picked out TWO names he feels should spend the second-half of the season on-loan elsewhere, and the fans in the bar agree with his choices, now urging Hughes to make it happen.
Ramadan Sobhi
The highly-rated 20-year-old Egyptian was signed in the summer but has started just one Premier League game since, making a further six cameos off the bench. Altogether, Sobhi has completed ninety minutes just once since August- and that was in the League Cup.
Currently on duty with his national side at the African Cup of Nations, Stoke should consider allowing the youngster to move elsewhere for the second-half of the season to become an important first-team member of another squad- as the benefits in the long run would be huge.
Julien Ngoy
Making his Premier League debut in the 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in early December, and making a further two appearances since, 19-year-old attacker Julien Ngoy has a bright future ahead of him- but the valuable lesson of regular first-team football could provide a huge boost.
Whilst Nogy could still earn a handful of appearances for Mark Hughes’ side between now and the end of the season, he could see that amount raise significantly if he was to spend half-a-year on-loan elsewhere and the player’s development would take a huge boost.
