What would Juventus’ Mario Lemina bring to Stoke City’s midfield?

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Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has been keen to bolster the Potters’ midfield this summer after his promising side with Europe in their sights tailed off to a 9th place finish in 2015-16 after a positive start, losing five of their final ten league games. One of his reported targets is Juventus and Gabon midfielder Mario Lemina, with Hughes looking to tempt the 22-year old to the Potteries with a £12m bid.

Lemina was also the subject of a bid from Premier League champions Leicester City before they opted to sign Nampalys Mendy from OGC Nice. It is thought that Juve may be holding out for a fee closer to their £20m valuation of the youngster according to the Sun, but what would the midfielder bring to the Bet 365 Stadium if Stoke were to snap him up?

With central midfield a priority for strengthening in spite of Glen Whelan signing an extension to his current deal, Lemina has emerged as Hughes’ Number One target. The midfielder operates as a box-to-box player though more defensive minded, yet would provide an engine capable of starting attacking plays after winning possession, as well as an injection of technical brilliance and an eye for a pass; attributes sorely missed in the Potters’ midfield ever since Steven N’Zonzi departed for Sevilla.

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Lemina made seven Serie A starts in 2015-16 as the Old Lady retained the scudetto once more, and after bringing in Miralem Pjanic from Roma already this summer, the Turin club may well be ready to cash in on the youngster as they gather funds to replace the outgoing Alvaro Morata in their forward line.

The youngster is known for his strength, dynamism and work ethic in midfield, and if he were to be seen in Stoke colours, he’d add another dimension to their factor of breaking up opposition play, and provide some competition for Giannelli Imbula who has proved somewhat underwhelming following his transfer from Porto, Glen Whelan who is often in and out of the side and the inconsistent Charlie Adam. His versatility would also aid Geoff Cameron who is capable of breaking up play but lacks capacity as a box-to-box engine, and he is the sort of player whose distribution and technique means he may thrive as a creative force behind Stoke’s prominent attacking trio of Marko Arnautovic, Xherdan Shaqiri and Bojan Krkic. In this scenario he would likely be the deep – lying midfielder in a screening role but also operating as a pass master from just in front of his defence as well as bringing forward play with his forward runs.

The Gabonese would certainly be an asset to Mark Hughes’ midfield, though it is likely the Potteries club may be forced to up their offer to prise the youngster away from Turin. With wealthy Bundesliga newcomers RB Leipzig reportedly one of several clubs interested in acquiring his services for next season according to The Guardian, Hughes’ hand may be forced before too long. This transfer saga may well be one to keep an eye on for one of European football’s talented up and coming youngsters.

Featured Image – All Rights Reserved by Paolo Rachetto.