In recent years, the number of quality players produced by Stoke’s academy has been almost unbelievable, from Tom Edwards’ introduction to the first team squad in 2017, all the way to players such as Tyrese Campbell, Harry Souttar and Nathan Collins now being key members of Michael O’Neill’s first team squad this season in 2021.
The development of these players has come as a direct result of the time, effort, money, and attention put towards every aspect of the academy. From the facilities and scouting networks set up to find the next big stars, all the way down to finding the correct host families for each player, who play just as big a role in their development as the coaches.
The success of our academy has caught the attention of many young players looking to make their way in the game, with a clear pathway to the first team available for anybody who joins the club at youth level. This has allowed us to not only develop our own talent, but to bring in talent from elsewhere with exceptional ability, a prime example of this has been young midfielder, Ibrahima Sy, who has already made the jump from U18s football to first team football in just under a season at the club. An equally exciting prospect joined the club at around the same time as Sy but hasn’t been able to play for the young Potters as of yet due to work permit issues, that prospect is young, clinical striker, Samy Bahri.
Formerly of Toulouse, the Moroccan youth-international is a player with a lot of potential, standing at 5ft11. Bahri describes himself as a “Karim Benzema or Luis Suarez-style striker”, although the media over in France have described him as more of a Sergio Aguero type of striker, coming alive in the penalty area and dangerous with both feet both when dribbling and shooting.
Bahri has many attributes already at such a young age that make it clear to see that he will be a star striker in the not-so-distant future. A natural goal scorer, immensely intelligent on and off the ball, anticipating mistakes from opposition defences and making well-timed runs to get on the end of through balls and crosses from his teammates. Not to mention that he’s not a bad dribbler when on the ball, with the ability to score any kind of goal from both short-range and long-range chances, he’s also an exceptionally good penalty taker, something Stoke could certainly do with!
Now, it’s difficult to get stats for French U17s football, so unfortunately, I couldn’t tell you exactly how many goals Bahri scored last season before joining the Potters, all I can tell you is that according to French website Actufoot, Bahri scored at least 4 goals last season, however, it’s unclear how many he played throughout the season. Although it’s worth noting that many credible sources, including Stoke City’s official website have stated he has an impressive goal return.
Brexit has made it difficult and frustrating for both Stoke and Bahri, with the deal being halted due to changes in the way business is done between clubs in the UK and the rest of Europe except for The Republic of Ireland, thanks to Britain’s exit from the European Union, making it far more difficult for foreign players to sign for British clubs, especially younger players.
The Bahri deal would’ve gone through in Autumn of last year, but unfortunately, there were complications with his registration in France, in the past this would’ve been sorted out in the following January transfer window, players coming from abroad now need to meet strict criteria, meaning Bahri, while technically contracted to Stoke for 3-years on a first-year scholar basis, as he’s said himself, cannot play for us until his work permit situation is resolved.
It becomes even more frustrating when you remember that Stoke have already lost out on young, attacking talent before, albeit under different circumstances, with Mo Sankho departing for Stuttgart in Germany last summer.
Bahri has expressed his excitement over the move to Stoke and his long-term goals at the club, stating in an Interview with French newspaper La Dépêche du Midi that “I’ve fixed myself short, medium and long-term goals. First, I want to impose myself with the U18s, to score goals and be one of the leaders. Next year, still in the U18s, I’ll have other goals, like playing a few U23 games, getting a few minutes and why not, a bit later, have a few training sessions with the first team. I don’t want to skip steps and am just setting myself goals I can achieve”. This shows that Bahri has kept his feet planted firmly on the ground despite the hype surrounding the young talismanic striker.
It’s clear that both Stoke and Bahri want him at the club, with Stoke offering him a deal after only a week at the club on trial, moving quickly to beat close rivals Birmingham City to his signature. Bahri’s talent is clear for all to see, at such a young age he shows a lot of promise, lets just hope that issues surrounding his work permit can be sorted out for the start of next season so he can begin his inevitable rise to stardom at Stoke City over the next few years. I’m sure that’s what he’ll be hoping happens too.
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