How Rabbi Matondo’s pace can transform Stoke City

Welsh international Rabbi Matondo has put pen to paper on a loan deal until the end of the season at Stoke City from Bundesliga strugglers Schalke.

Matondo’s contract has a buy-back clause from Manchester City so should Schalke get relegated then Matondo will presumably head back to the blue side of Manchester.

Whilst at the Manchester City, Matondo recorded unbelievable sprint stats, outpacing Raheem Sterling, Kyle Walker and Leroy Sane in sprint tests, completing 20m in an impressive 2.62 seconds. This impressive attribute prompted Pep Guardiola to say ‘I know how good he is, incredibly fast winger, and a young talent’.

Since making the £11.3m move to Germany, in the hope to replicate academy teammate Jadon Sancho’s success at Borussia Dortmund, Matondo has been limited to first team chances making only three appearances so far this season for Schalke and only making 30 league appearances, since 2019, so far in his young senior career, scoring two goals.

By making the short-term move to the Potters, Matondo will be looking to showcase his talent in men’s football which he hasn’t been able to showcase on a regular basis since graduating from the Manchester City academy.

Stoke City have made the move for Matondo following Tyrese Campbell, a former Man City youth player himself, picking up a knee injury which will leave him out for the rest of the season. In the six games before Campbell’s injury, Stoke had found the back of the net nine times and in the six games after Campbell’s injury they’ve only managed to score twice. They’ve lacked pace to get in behind defences since his injury so have turned to Matondo to replace him.

Stoke’s current attacking options look very slim in terms of pace with Steven Fletcher who poses more of a threat with his presence rather than his pace and Sam Vokes who is more useful as a target man. Adding Matondo’s pace to this Stoke City side means they can now play the free flowing style of football that was on display before Campbell’s injury.

Michael O’Neill will now likely move away from the 5-3-2 in which James McClean, the only player with frightening pace, was being used as a makeshift wing back.

Matondo can play on either wings or even as a number 9, giving Stoke more options up front and a step closer to going back to the more entertaining 4-3-3 formation, which Stoke fans have been crying out to see since Campbell picked up that fatal knee injury.

The fans have taken to Matondo already since his move and are excited to see him in a Stoke shirt for the first time in his expected debut against Premier League opposition Leicester City in the FA Cup.

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