Stoke City are already gearing up for their first match of the new season(the Potters are 7/1 to defeat Liverpool away from home with Paddy Power) and this week boss Mark Hughes has revealed how impressed he has been with new signing Marc Muniesa since his arrival at the club from Barcelona. Having swapped the Nou Camp for the Britannia Stadium, however, it remains unclear what Muniesa will make of his new surroundings.
21-year old Muniesa has spent much of the last five seasons languishing in the Barcelona reserves and has been limited to just four senior appearances for the club. Despite his lack of football, there must have been any number of more glamorous locations that the Spain U21 international could have chosen to make his next move to, but Hughes insists that he has made a wise choice. “Marc is a young man who has made a big step. He has come from one of the top clubs in the world to try to make his career in the Premier League,” Hughes said, hinting that Muniesa may be trying to use Stoke City as a springboard to bigger and better things.
Having arrived at Stoke, Muniesa must have been struck by the quality of the players around him. Having left the likes of Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi behind in Spain to help their team towards another triumph in the La Liga odds, he will now have the opportunity to train alongside Ryan Shawcross and Peter Crouch amongst others and whilst he is sure to be a little overawed by the quality of the Stoke squad, Mark Hughes is confident that he is good enough to make the grade.
“It is a big decision, but I have been impressed with him. I think we have a very good player on our hands,” the Stoke boss said. “His technical ability is without question, he just needs now to adjust to the Premier League,” he added, making no reference to the fact that there is no better place to become accustomed to the argy–bargy of the Premier League than the Stoke City training ground.