Stoke City old boy can’t stop scoring after horror injury and five transfers
Stoke City signed Wesley in the summer of 2023 hoping he could be the focal point of a new attack under Alex Neil
Former Stoke City striker Wesley has finally managed to get his career going again as he leads a promotion charge in Turkey.
Wesley had been tipped for much brighter lights just over five years ago when he had been called up by Brazil and was finding his feet in the Premier League at Aston Villa, who had spent £22 million to sign him from Club Brugge.
He had just scored in a New Year’s Day win at Burnley when disaster struck. He suffered a horrendous knee injury that meant he wouldn’t play again for 15 months and, clearly, it totally derailed his aspirations of establishing himself at the top level.
Wesley left on loan in order to try and get his career back on track, after his final appearance for Villa
Wesley’s fortunes on the other side of his time at Villa didn’t exactly improve immediately, either. He joined Stoke on a permanent basis in the summer of 2023, but couldn’t find the net and barely played after the sacking in December of Alex Neil, the manager who had signed him.
Wesley, then 27, ought to have been in the prime of his career but found himself without a club after rotten luck.
– a win over Newcastle in August 2021 – but spells with Brugge, Internacional in his native Brazil and Spanish side Levante bore little fruit.
The transfer window last summer took him to new pastures in Turkey. There, Wesley – who earned a single cap against Argentina, while at Villa in 2019 – joined Fatih Karagumruk in the nation’s second tier.
Fatih currently sit second in the league, firmly in contention for promotion to Turkey’s top flight come the end of the season. Wesley, has been a crucial component of that success to date having put his injury troubles behind him and settled into new surroundings.
He had bagged 12 goals in 14 games up to the beginning of December and he has continued to produce steadily in the weeks since. Wesley, who has captained Fatih at times this season, has proved to be a little ill-disciplined, though – he has been sent off twice this term.
Now he and fellow former Potter Daniel Johnson have eight games remaining to try to book their place in the top division.
My message to Stoke City players who hold our fate in their hands
Stoke City legend Mike Pejic delivers a tub-thumping call to arms ahead of eight massive games to end the season
We’ve got a huge eight games coming up for Stoke City and I can feel my own heart pumping a little quicker as we head towards the weekend – and I’ll only be watching.
I can try to take out my energy and anxiety in my garden, but I can imagine how everything is building up for the players who hold our fate in their hands. I want to see them come out of the traps for this final chapter, starting on Saturday against Queens Park Rangers, like their backsides are on fire.
