Mehdi Leris to Stoke City transfer latest as Alex Neil closes in on pressing machine
Transfer news from the bet365 Stadium as Alex Neil tries to complete 12th signing of massive summer window
Mehdi Leris was introduced to Sampdoria supporters as a hard-working and athletic central midfielder – who can also play as attacking midfielder, winger, outside forward, wing-back, full-back, second striker, striker or on the outside of a midfield three.
That’s a lot to cover in an opening letter and he can now add a reputation for relentless pressing and high stamina, that he has played under Filippo Inzaghi, Dejan Stankovic and Andrea Pirlo, on the right, in the middle and on the left.
He’s made nearly 100 appearances in Serie A with Sampdoria and Chievo, challenged for promotion from Serie B with Brescia, had time on loan at Juventus and he’s only 25. There have been links with Parma and Alaves but Stoke City are close to completing a deal with a reported fee of about €1m euros or £850,000.
If the big question is where he will fit into the Stoke line-up, if and when he does arrive at the bet365 Stadium, it is not because of a lack of options – and he will add another layer or five to an increasingly multicultural changing room too. He grew up in France, has spent the last decade in Italy, has a Spanish father and mother from Algeria, who he has opted to represent as a senior international.
In a way, he can benefit and curse the old Geoff Cameron syndrome. Cameron wanted to be used in one position to really find his best form but the ability to play in a variety of roles meant that he played 168 matches in the Premier League. Jacob Brown, who Leris might be seen as replacing, could point a little bit to that too.
Maybe being moved around is why Leris has not been able to transfer a good scoring rate in reserve football into the senior game.
In probably his best personal season to date, at Brescia in 2021/22, he was largely used as a right winger or attacking midfielder and it was high on the right where he mostly featured last season for Sampdoria as they slipped to relegation. Teammates included one Jese Rodriguez so he already has sympathy in the bank.
Rolando Maran, his old manager at Chievo, later said: “He was really very young but he’s someone I’ve always believed in, so much so that as soon as I saw him play I immediately wanted to take him with me to the first team, convinced that he would have, as he did, an important development.
“I was struck by his seriousness. He’s a hard worker and never backed down. He came to training to learn and that’s a quality, along with his technique and physical attributes, make him an excellent prospect.
“He played as a striker (in youth football). I moved him to midfield because at Chievo we played a rhombus formation and I could use him as a central midfielder or attacking midfielder. He can play with great ease as a (number 8) or winger who comes inside.”
