After previously being on the radar of England’s elite, the overarching feeling at Stoke City is that Emre Tezgel has a real point to prove – even if he’s still only 18.
A graduate of the Stoke academy, Tezgel became the youngest player to ever represent the Potters when he came off the bench in their FA Cup victory over Leyton Orient in 2022 at the age of 16. His entrance into the Stoke record books came as little surprise to both supporters and those inside the club, with the young striker having been widely-regarded among the best players across the entire country for his age.
There’s been a natural weight of expectation upon Tezgel’s youthful shoulders for quite some time, but through no fault of his own, he’s been unable to live up to it thus far.
Emre Tezgel is yet to meet the hype at Stoke City
You could quite fairly point to the high managerial turnover at the Bet365 Stadium in recent years and Stoke’s own intertwining under-performance in the league, which invariably imposes significant difficulty in trying to cultivate and embed young talent into a tumultuous, perhaps counterproductive environment. Those potential rationales hold weight, but the inarguable drawback is that Tezgel has suffered a string of injury setbacks after making his debut, only getting on the pitch for Stoke at senior level on six occasions.
It would be naive to write Tezgel off just yet, but there’s little escaping that the current state of play is a real far cry from his high stock in 2021. According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City were all tracking Tezgel, who had been likened to Harry Kane at the time by Potters’ academy director Gareth Owen, and little wonder.
| Emre Tezgel’s stats in youth competitions for Stoke City, as per Transfermarkt | |||
| Competition | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| U18 Premier League | 33 | 20 | 5 |
| Premier League 2 | 22 | 9 | 2 |
| FA Youth Cup | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| PL2 Playoffs | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 61 | 29 | 2 |
Emre Tezgel needs Stoke City loan exit to continue development
Tezgel received his first rehearsal of frequent first-team football on loan with MK Dons during the second half of last season and helped them make the League Two play-offs, scoring three times and assisting a further three all in their final five matches.
