"Easily a £15m player" - Claim made over Stoke City's Bae Jun-Ho | OneFootball

Bae Jun-Ho joined the Potters last season and showed flashes of brilliance.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Stoke City are blessed with a talented squad that have started the season with a fair amount of solidity, however, one player stands out from the crowd at the bet365 Stadium.

After building a reputation for signing players that fit into a more physical style of play, the Potters have gone under a renaissance of sorts, with Steven Schumacher revolutionising the club further since arriving in December 2023.

The former Plymouth Argyle manager kept Stoke away from relegation danger at the back end of last season, with one of their summer signings from the start of the campaign showing to the rest of the Championship his abilities on certain occasions.

Bae Jun-Ho was signed from South Korean side Daejeon Hana Citizen for a reported fee of £2 million. He scored twice, while also picking up five assists, in his first season in the Championship.

Jun-Ho has an extremely bright future

Jun-Ho showed flashes of his brilliance during 2023/24, but there is much more to come from the 21-year-old.

He was targeted in the summer by Premier League side Fulham, but his manager refused to let go of him, categorically telling all interested punters that the attacking midfielder was not for sale.

This news was received extremely well by supporters of the Potters, none more so than Sam Harrison, FLW's Stoke Fan Pundit, who believes that Jun-Ho is the club's most valuable player currently.

"I think there's obviously multiple players that are really valuable to Stoke. I'd say it's between Manhoef, Burger and Jun-Ho, who are all players that we brought in last season and I think all of them will be important this season.

"I think out of all of them, though, the one who is worth the most is Jun-Ho. I think he's got a really bright future. I think he’ll really get his numbers up this year because last season he was still getting used to the league. But I think we really did see a lot of what he can bring to the table.

"He’s 21, he’s just a young lad who has such a bright future and I think he really could kick on whether that's in the Premier League or in another top division.

"Burger could also reach those heights, but I think Jun-Ho just edges it for me in terms of being Stoke’s most valuable player," Sam said.

He continued: "He's such a fantastic asset. I think he's a real fan favourite, and he has every right to be. I really hope that he can get the assists and get the goals this season. That will get a lot more people speaking about him, even though obviously we don't want other people interested in him.

"The current market is crazy and clubs are spending lots. Obviously, Birmingham are a clear one in terms of how much they've spent. Even though they've been relegated to League One they've still spent something like £30 million.

"I think it's so easy to say in a couple of years he's going to be this amount, but I think Jun-Ho could easily build his market value up straight away and, even from now till the end of the season, it could go up £5-£10 million.

"If I'm looking at it in terms of around January and a club like Leicester or Everton I'd probably say we should want double digits, I really do," he added.

"I think £10 million definitely is a bargain really, if I'm being honest. I don't know if this is just me being biassed, but I think he's easily a £15 million player and I think he could quite easily bump that number up. £12-£15 million for Bae Jun-Ho would be an absolute bargain.

"We all know what he brings to the table, and his potential to grow as he is obviously at a young age. He’s already got a lot of quality and could become a world-class player, but right now, being realistic about it and with him only just having his first season in the Championship, then I will say £12-£15 million, but it could get past £20 million."

"He's such a superb player and I just hope that he stays injury free and is able to get the numbers that he deserves.

"He deserves to get more assists. Last season he was absolutely magic, and being realistic about it £15 million is fair. But, hopefully, no clubs are interested in him,"Sam concluded.

Jun-Ho must add more numbers to his game

Although he is an extremely exciting player to watch, it can be said that he has lacked the capacity to score and create goals so far in his career.

He has scored just 10 times since he made his professional debut in 2022, and has just nine assists to his name as well.

If he is to go on and become the player that many anticipate him to become, Jun-Ho must add to both columns, and become the game-changer that he has the potential to be.

This season is the 21-year-old's opportunity to take the league by the scruff of its neck and become a leader for Stoke after having had a year already to settle in, and help the Potters back to the upper end of the Championship after a disappointing few years.