In what is a very good news for Stoke City fans, Mame Diouf has signed a new deal to extend his stay at the BET365 Stadium. The Senegalese international has pledged his future to the club for another three long years.
The 29 years old has been with the club since 2014 and made his 100th appearance for the Potters in the 2-1 defeat against Newcastle United. The forward has relived this season in a new fashion as he has been used in a more different right wingback position.
Diouf looked pretty spirited in his new role as he had to make room for the new signings Jese Rodriguez and Max Choupo-Moting. The player has always been a disciplined disciple of Hughes and the former Manchester United man has used the forward on a number of positions, but this wingback role is completely different from the others.
Diouf expressed his satisfaction and his ambition for further heights at the BET365 Stadium. “Another top-10 finish is the immediate ambition but we should be targeting an even higher finish and success in one of the cup competitions. It’s a long time since Stoke City won a trophy and I’d love to be part of the team that did so again. There’s no reason why we can’t win a cup,” he said in a recent interview.
Stoke defeated Arsenal at their home and went to Old Trafford to snatch a point from Manchester United. But their juggernaut got halted against Newcastle United. Diouf had a pretty good game against the Red Devils as he gave the fullbacks a tough time.
But against Newcastle, he got exposed a number of times and at the time of the first goal, he was caught in a bit of awkward position which led Christian Atsu to nod in from a Matt Ritchie delivery. He could have done better as he was given the task to mark Atsu but how can a forward fill in the role of a defender? Hughes has to address this concern.
Stoke finished in the 13th position last season but before that, they had three ninth-place finishes consecutively. Diouf needs to work on his defensive antics as he is pretty much a proven forward given his goal scoring record.
Wingbacks are the future of the modern football and if Diouf wants to take a leap in his career he has to take this role pretty seriously. So signing him on a new deal makes a lot of sense for the Potters.
