With the 2015/16 English Premier League season a matter of weeks away, Richard Jolly provides his thoughts on each of the 20 teams and predicts their final league finish. Here he looks at Stoke City.
Stoke have been the division’s quiet success story in the last two seasons. They finished ninth in May with a net transfer spend of just £3.8 million (Dh21.65m) over the previous 12 months.
Mark Hughes has made a little go a long way but there are signs both that ambitions have been expanded at the Britannia Stadium and that Hughes faces a challenge to keep Stoke in the upper half of the standings.
Two cornerstones of his side, goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and central midfielder Steven Nzonzi, have been lured to bigger clubs. Either the veteran Shay Given or the untried Jack Butland will take over in goal.
The borrowed Marco van Ginkel may be Nzonzi’s replacement while Glen Johnson gives them a more attack-minded full-back.
Hughes has added flair in the final third and the £12m bid for Xherdan Shaqiri was a sign he wants more, even if the move for the Swiss broke down.
Yet the rather cheaper Bojan Krkic was shaping up to be one of the signings of last season when he was injured and it is a sign of Stoke’s attacking options that neither the Spaniard’s absence for four months or Peter Odemwingie’s for virtually the whole season proved a serious hindrance.
That is testament to a can-do mentality which should serve them well again.
Key Man: Jack Butland — Asmir Begovic's move to Chelsea deprives Stoke of one of the division's best goalkeepers. While Shay Given has joined, Butland should finally get first-team football. This will prove how good he actually is.
Pivotal Signing: Joselu — The £5.75m Spaniard was prolific for Real Madrid's B team and had a decent scoring record in the Bundesliga. He may prove Peter Crouch's long-term replacement in the Stoke forward line.
Crucial Factor: Preventing shock results. Stoke had an excellent season last year but, had they not lost at home to Aston Villa, Leicester, Burnley and Crystal Palace, it would have been still better. Had they won those games, they would have finished fifth.
Prediction: 10th
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