Stoke City’s Ki-Jana Hoever reveals key reason for sealing return from Wolves | OneFootball

Stoke City loanee Ki-Jana Hoever has revealed that he returned to the club because he trusted club officials to build an exciting squad, making this admission to the Potters' media team.

The Staffordshire outfit faced a rebuild during the summer transfer window, with many players being released or returning to their parent clubs.

One man who returned to his parent club was Hoever, who had enjoyed a reasonably productive first loan spell at Alex Neil's side and had shone at times.

His performance at Middlesbrough was particularly impressive, proving to be a real threat down the right-hand side and even managing to get himself on the scoresheet at the Riverside.

It was unclear where Hoever was going to go next following the end of last season, but he returned to the bet365 Stadium during the latter stages of July and came in reasonably early on in the rebuild.

At the time of his arrival, Neil's side still needed to make a sizeable number of additions, so his decision to return could be seen as a gamble.

Thankfully for Hoever and his teammates, the club did manage to rebuild their squad reasonably successfully, even if results didn't go their way earlier in the season.

Hoever has made a respectable 12 league appearances so far this season, registering one goal and two assists with the Dutchman starting regularly and developing well.

Why did Ki-Jana Hoever re-join Stoke City from Wolves?

If Hoever had stayed at Wolves, he may have had the chance to play under Gary O'Neil, who is clearly a very talented coach.

A starting spot may have been hard for him to secure, but he may have had a chance to get some Premier League minutes under his belt.

He decided against choosing the comfortable option though and gave his reasons why he re-joined the Potters, saying: "The club made a lot of signings in the summer, and I was up for the project.

"I was one of the first players to come back because I trusted Ricky [Martin] and everybody that helped to bring a quality squad together so that we could do something good this season.

"I have been in England for a long time so I feel a natural responsibility to help other players, Wouter [Burger], for example, speaks Dutch so I can help him having experienced the move here at a young age."

Should Stoke City look to sign Ki-Jana Hoever on a permanent deal?

It will be interesting to see what the Dutchman's numbers are like in the final third over a whole season.

If he contributes enough in the final third and is reasonably solid defensively from now until the end of the season, they should look at the possibility of bringing him in permanently.

Junior Tchamadeu is a potential alternative if he doesn't sign permanently, but it's unclear whether the 19-year-old will be able to establish himself as a key first-teamer in Staffordshire in the next couple of years.

Lynden Gooch can also operate there - but may benefit from playing higher up the pitch.

With this in mind, a permanent move for Hoever would probably be a good idea because he seems to be motivated to play for the badge, but whether they will be able to afford him remains to be seen.