Outside90’s Tom Batten weighs-up the positives and negatives of potential Potters signing Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu. The 24-year-old currently plays in Italy for Udinese and is rumoured to be making a move to either Hull City, or most likely Stoke.
Many Stoke City fans were left intrigued by this Ghanian midfielder that their side were reportedly in talks with. The midfielder is no stranger to tough competition with top flight European experience at Udienese. However, the Serie A is not as physical and hard as the EPL, and therefore like many arrivals that have come before, he may struggle in that regard.
After signing for Ghanian side Berekum Arsenal in 2007, he went on loan to Ghana Premier League team Asante Kokoto for one year and Spanish Segunda División team Recreativo de Huelva for six months.He had not been at a high quality team in his career until penning the deal with Udinese in 2010. This may come as a worry, because he has not gotten the high quality training needed for Premier League players in their youth years. Not all hope is lost, however, as Badu went on to make 101 appearances and scored six goals.
Although he may have had some great performances at Udinese, according to WhoScored.com Badu’s passing and tackling are weak. His pass accuracy is only 77%, compared to former Stoke midfielder Steven Nzonzi with an accuracy of 85%. Nzonzi has also almost doubled Badu on his amount of tackling per game, with 1.9 tackles for the former compared to 1.1 for the latter.
Badu is a proud member of the Ghanaian ‘Black Stars’ and has played 62 games for the national team. His accuracy on goal is better at international level than with his club outfits, having scored 10 times. The midfielder has featured in one World Cup and was kept out of the 2010 tournament due to injury. Unfortunately, Badu only made one start and played a total of 102 minutes. His record also includes a runners-up medal at the African Cup of Nations.
The ACON is held every two years and the tournament always sees the great players taken from their teams for the glamour of Europe or Asia. This could be an issue with Badu as he is almost certainly a lock for the national team at the African Cup of Nations 2017 in Gabon. Players like Yaya Touré and Kevin-Prince Boateng are at big clubs that can cope, but when you are at a team like Stoke a player of their calibre cannot always be brought in on loan.
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Looking at the cup half-full, Badu will be getting match practice in a pressure situation. Tournaments can bring out the best and worst in football players and he will surely learn from the experience. The cup will only go for less than a month and Stoke City will have him back in the team.
After the loan signing of Marco van Ginkel from Chelsea, how much game time would Badu even get? With Steven Sidwell, Glenn Whelan and Stephen Ireland already taking up the midfield roles, he is likely to be watching games from the dugout. However, Badu is only 24, which gives him a six year advantage on some of the other midfield options. With that much time to develop, he will definitely improve and become even better than the names mentioned above.
There is no doubt that Badu has the skills to impress. He was even nominated for the 2012 Puskas Award with a stunning strike () in an African Cup of Nations game against Guinea. If Badu could do this in the Premier League then he would be worthy of playing for Stoke City. However, in the English league the defenders would not give him the same time and space.
Also a physical presence on the pitch, Badu can play very . strong through the middle of the pitch and hold off attackers wanting the ball. He also has the determination to follow-up his mistakes by putting in second effort tackles. Comments from around this time last year said that he ‘would not make the bench for Liverpool Football Club’ and ‘I don’t think this guy would be good enough for us’, after he was linked with the Merseysiders in 2014. Perhaps that may mean he would be good enough for Stoke. In a few years Badu may even make Brendan Rodgers ‘sorry he did not sign for Liverpool first’ list.
In an interview with Ghanasoccernet.com, Badu states “I have not reached an agreement with Stoke City”, however, the Potters need to find a replacement for Nzonzi, who moved to Sevilla for £7 million.
While Badu’s career has not been the flashiest, or the most skillful, in the English Premier League there are a lot of surprises. For example, at the start of last season many people did not think Harry Kane would go on to debut for England less than 12 months in the future. If Badu does sign for Stoke, there is no doubt the fans will welcome him with great pride and the hope that he can turn the club around.
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