Stoke City kept their championship status through the skin of their teeth last season. There is a rebuilding, and the Club has announced Signing number 11 with the return of Steven Nzonzi.
Stoke City boss Mark Robins had thrown his eye on Steven Nzonzi after the 36-year-old started training with the potters.
From his training sine, he said””He is a great boy. It is really interesting and I hope we can help each other.“
This mutual help seems to be the case with Nzonzi who returns to the club he left in 2015 A movement of £ 7 million At La Liga side Seville. After relocations, his return to Stoke City comes to six further games, which extend from people like Roma to the Persian Gulf Pro League side Sepahan.
What can Stoke City fans expect?
From a realistic point of view, Stoke City fans cannot expect that the 26-year-old version of Steven Nzonzi 2015 will rock a decade later and be the same player. However, that does not mean that the potters will pick up a aging travel man.
Steven Nzonzi Stats – 2023/24 for Galatasaray Via Fotmob
| Functions | Value | %Age rank |
| Go | 4 | 93.7 |
| Expected goals (XG) | 1.12 | 65.3 |
| Shot | 19 | 69.5 |
| Gone | 10 | 87.4 |
| Accurate fits | 1,137 | 95.8 |
| Accurate long balls | 73 | 82.1 |
| To touch | 1,808 | 89.5 |
| Touches – OppositionBox | 34 | 85.3 |
| Repair the ball | 131 | 71.6 |
| Duels won | 140 | 86.3 |
| Duels won %age | 65.4 | 100 |
| Air matches won | 101 | 100 |
| Aerial duels won %age | 72.1 | 94.7 |
To view a meaningful look at Nzonzi’s potential for the potters, you have to take a step back to his season 2023/24 in Turkish Super Lig with Konyaspor. Here he played for them in 33 games and collected 2,321 minutes of playing time.
Although it was 34 at the time, his performances in the Top League competition of Turkey show exactly what a plus he was for a team just above the relegation. Striking statistics include his distribution and his defensive game.
In terms of distribution, Nzonzi was accurately with 1,137 passes, which corresponds to 51.84 passes per 90. With largely as a defensive midfielder, this placed him in the top 5% of all players in that position.
Even more impressive is the contribution that the Frenchman has made defensively. In one side that was in a similar situation as Stoke City last season, Nzonzi was strong. Defensively he was more than healthy.
He completed 140 successful duels (arranged in the top 14% of the defensive midfielders) on 5.43 duels won per 90 minutes. His percentage of successful duels (65.4%), in combination with his 101 air duels, let him be the leading player in the Super Lig that season.
Thinking ahead or a backward step for the potters?
Reliving a player who was a striking player in a club, because Nzonzi was for many Stoke City fans often comes as a risk. This is especially the case when age is a factor; After all, Nzonzi is 36 years old.
Afterwards there is always a danger that Rose-tinted glasses will be applied with fans who expect the retro version to appear. However, realism among Potters fans must have the upper hand. They must realize that they will not get Prime, 2015 version of Steven Nzonzi back.
Although his time in the Persian Gulf Pro League with Sepahan may be considered a drop -down list for him as a drop -down list, he did not put himself in the grassland. Only a season before, with Konyaspor in a very competitive competition, he kept more than his own than his.
Defensively, with his winning of duels, and in terms of possession, with his accurate death, Nzonzi proved that he still has that class. Ok, it might not be in the abundance it was once when he was in the mid -twenties. Still, and especially for Potters fans, it is still there.
Form is temporary, as they say, but class, class is permanent. Yes, it can lose some of its glow and sparkle, which reflects a little more boring than before. But deep down it is still there.
Mark Robins is not a fool; He will have seen how Nzonzi is as he trained with the club before he signed a deal. Robins will know that the World Cup winner 2018 will be more than able to do a work in the championship this coming campaign.
Such as Leeds United’s signing of colleague -parenting Frenchman Joshua Guilavogui in October 2024, Nzonzi will bring something to Stoke City’s team, although he could even bring more than guila -gui if someone who has performed well in recent years.
It is not a backward step that take Stoke Ccity and Robins by bringing in Steven Nzonzi. No, it is a matter of progressive for a player who will have an impact if it is used correctly during the Championship campaign 2025/26.
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