BREAKING NEWS: Stoke City transfer chief gives insight into excellent ace chase….

Transfer news from the bet365 Stadium as Stoke City continue major summer of recruitment

New boy Mehdi Leris has a combination of power, skill and character to be a key component for Stoke City on and off the pitch, believes head of recruitment Jared Dublin.

Leris, who this week became Stoke’s 13th signing of the summer, has been on Stoke’s whiteboard of targets over the last two or three months – and been on Dublin’s watch list since he spotted him playing for Juventus’s youth team seven years ago.

The 25-year-old has been brought in as a replacement for Luton Town-bound Jacob Brown and will go straight into the squad for tomorrow’s Championship trip to Millwall.

 

Dublin said: “Mehdi is an interesting, unique blend of physical power and athleticism and also technical ability. We feel he has a blend of that which makes him a special player for us, especially as we look at how the squad has developed over the course of the window.

“We lost Jacob Brown to the Premier League – and obviously we are all happy for him to continue his career at the very top level – and we needed to bring in somebody who matched that physical output, who gives us that athletic profile at the top of the pitch but can hopefully improve us in terms of technical quality as well.

READ MORE: Stoke City seal second signing of the day as transfer flood continues

“Medhi for us was a no brainer in the sense of his back catalogue in Serie A, having been at Juventus as a kid through their academy. He’s got a fantastic CV but also the physical and technical attributes we wanted to go into the team.”

Stoke’s summer intake has been a mixture of youth and experience but Leris is one that Alex Neil sees for the here and now.

Dublin said: “If he can produce as he did against the likes of Napoli and ragdolling Zambo Anguissa out of a challenge in a 50-50 at Napoli’s ground… If he can show a similar level of performance as he did in Serie A at Milan or Napoli and take it to Rotherham or Watford or whoever we’ve got on a Tuesday night then we hope that his adaptation period will be shorter than some. He’s played at a very good level for a good amount of time.

 

“He had loads of interest in Serie A, in Spain, in Turkey and quite a few clubs on the European scene playing in European competition but we felt that our persistent interest in the entire window – it was one of the first calls we made as we had some changes in the recruitment department – helped and we’re happy to get it over the line, especially for the fee that was required to get him out of Sampdoria.

“We feel that the value is there in this deal for the quality of player and quality of the person. One thing we don’t talk about enough is character and what they bring to the group off the pitch. He speaks fluent English, French, Arabic… and that helps as we expand our pond to include more foreign players. We think he’ll be an integral component, the glue, that brings everyone together.

“We’re very pleased to have Mehdi at Stoke City and we hope he’s one of those that propels us on this journey back to the Premier League.”

Leris grew up in France but came through the ranks at Chievo and caught Dublin’s attention during a season on loan to Juventus’s junior side in 2016/17.

 

“He was playing in the youth league at the time,” said Dublin in a video released by the club. “That group had Moise Kean, who has obviously gone on to be fantastic, and another player who has actually ended up in England in Andi Zeqiri, who was signed by Brighton.

“There were quite a few emerging talents in that group and you keep tabs on them, that’s the job. You keep tabs on all the youth league players, all the emerging talents from abroad and see how they carry on.

 

“We saw he was able to play every position going; midfield, off the right, off the left, as a 10, right-back for Algeria, played wing-back loads… We find that a useful tool for us to have as we try to blend all these new players together, having players who are tactically flexible and able to fill different roles. We think Mehdi is that and much more.”