Stoke City have had a mediocre start to the Premier League campaign, placed eleventh in the league table with 24 points from 20 games. However, Mark Hughes side did show signs of re-engineering of their approach when they defeated Watford by two goals to nil on Tuesday which has given reason to the fans that the Potters can aim higher than mere top ten finishes.
Peter Crouch was one of the two men to find their name on the score sheet as Walter Mazzarri’s failed to contain Stoke City. The goal took him to just two short of a hundred Premier League goals as the Englishman remains a very key player under the tutelage of Hughes. However, there had been some murmurs across the bet365 Stadium on the unlikelihood of the 35-year-old striker to stay beyond this season, considering that he had just six months left on his contract.
Quite contrarily, the recent reports from the Potters’ camp have started to twist in favour of Crouch after the win against the Hornets, and it is believed that a new contract is very much on the way to tie him to the club beyond this season. The veteran striker has scored 49 goals in 185 appearances across all competitions for Stoke City ever since making a move from Tottenham Hotspurs in 2011.
Leaving the recent weeks aside, the last 18 months had otherwise been quite disappointing for the big man who had spent his time on the bench for a major chunk of the aforesaid period, which is why it very much seemed like he was vouching for the exit in the January transfer window. A rise in his stature recently might urge him to stay provided the club does act in the manner in which the proven employee desires to.
Despite being on the wrong side of the thirties, Crouch still has the mettle in him to at least be a handy back-up for a side like Stoke City and his recent endeavours have reflected the same. The goal against Chelsea on New Year’s Eve and another one against Watford have given some hope to Hughes of using him as his first-choice forward. With plenty of experience in his bag and the same old hunger to score goals, Hughes must try to bound Crouch to the club and aim to get the best out of him in that period.
One bright spot for the Stoke City fans though. Recent reports are emerging that Peter Crouch might just put his plan to move on the hold for the time being. Let us hope that is true in this case.
