Stoke City is one of the few teams in the Premier League who are beginning to get serious about their transfer targets a bit late compared to the others. However, the list of their targets are noteworthy, to say the least. The Potters do have some very established players in the attacking third but are in need of a midfield organizer and a proper goal scorer up top. Mark Hughes is pretty confident about the type of players required and he has surprised everybody by making a move for a proven Premier League goalscorer in Robin Van Persie.
Van Persie has been playing in the Turkish Super League for Fenerbache since last year and has been in fine form as well netting 22 times in 48 matches. A move for the 32-year-old is thus not out of order at all as Van Persie’s caliber will be an asset to any team let alone Stoke.
The two-time golden boot winner in the Premier League has proven quality and has done it all before in England. The Dutchman’s ability in front of goal, versatility to play as an advanced playmaker is also something which teams like Stoke can look to utilize with the likes of Shaqiri and Bojan in their ranks.
While his time at Arsenal was marred by frequent injuries, Van Persie hasn’t been able to remain injury free since he left the Gunners and with him there’s always a risk on that front but the quality which he will offer while on the pitch surpasses the risk by some margin and any manager would be tempted to sign the Dutchman despite his injury records.
The Potters have just signed another very potent player in Joe Allen to stabilize their midfield and if they manage to snap up Van Persie too then Mark Hughes would have one of the best transfer windows of his life in terms of shrewd business. After scoring a massive 280 goals in the Premier League and providing numerous assists while playing for both Arsenal and Manchester United, Robin Van Persie can finally come back to England and do what he does best, bang in some goals or help his team to score some.
This article is written by Arka Tarun Mukherjee.
