While Stoke City’s youth academy is not filled with the talent that some of the other bigger football schools possess, one may be surprised at the quality on show in the first team of tomorrow. Outside90’s Tom Batten takes a look at the players that could be crucial in the Potters’ future success.
Moha El Ouriachi
The winger recently moved to Stoke City from Barcelona and is set to appear in the first team at some stage this season. Moha currently plays for the Moroccan under 23 team and is a former member of the Spanish and Moroccan under 17 national teams. He has exceptional technical ability from time spent at Espanyol and Barcelona, also possessing natural height and speed, attributes needed as winger in the Premier League. Something he would want to improve on is strength and shooting, the 19-year-old can sometimes dribble the length of the pitch only to miss the shot at the end.
He definitely resembles current Potters star Xherdan Shaqiri in the way he passes the defence with precision. Moha should end up representing the senior Moroccan team, along with fellow midfielders Hachim Mastour and Zakaria Labyad. He is set to not only make his country proud, but also the fans of Stoke City.
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Bobby Moseley
Bobby Moseley describes himself as an ‘attacking fullback who likes to get forward sometimes’. He could also be compared to senior team defender Geoff Cameron, who can play anywhere along the defensive line. The Irishman recently moved from Birmingham’s academy to Stoke City’s youth setup and now three games into the new season with the back four already struggling, could make an unlikely appearance under Mark Hughes this year.
The defender captained Stoke City’s under 21s in a game against Aston Villa which finished 0-0 and has already enjoyed a first team debut in a friendly against FC Porto at the Colonia Cup. He could be a key player in the coming seasons, utilised as a fullback or a centre-back, but still needs to keep improving if he wants to warrant further first team appearances.
Ollie Shenton
Academy manager Dave Wright says that Ollie Shenton will almost definitely become a first team player for Stoke City in the future. He has played twice for the senior side, featuring in a game two days after his mother died. Shenton has been at the academy for over ten years now, joining when he was just seven-years-old. The midfielder is described as being energetic and having a high work rate, having it in his nature to try new things on the pitch. This was demonstrated with his long range shot in the friendly against FC Porto.
A first team appearance looks likely after of his emergence last season, but he will definitely need to impress manager Mark Hughes to be able to take over Glenn Whelan or Marco van Ginkel’s spots. For now, we will have to wait and got used to seeing him in the under 21’s team.
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Daniel Bachmann
The goalkeeper declared he “is not at Ross County to sit on the bench” and after securing a loan move to the Scottish club, he will want to take advantage of the first team minutes on offer. Bachmann is one of the biggest success stories of the Stoke City academy, but is still yet to make his Premier League debut. At only 19-year-old he has plenty of time to improve, which will certainly happen at his temporary surroundings.
He started his career 1,750 kilometres away from Stoke-on-Trent in the Austrian town Modling, moving from Admira Wacker to Austrian Wien and then ending up at Stoke City. Bachmann probably has as much luck getting a senior game at Stoke City while in Scotland as he would have if he was at the club, sitting behind Jack Butland, Shay Given and Jakob Haugaard in the custodial hierarchy but has a long journey ahead and the potential is there to one day become the Potters’ preferred gloveman.
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