Is Rabbi Matondo a good signing for Stoke City?
Is Rabbi Matondo a good signing for Stoke City?
In a few ways, yes, this is a positive signing for Stoke. Rabbi Matondo will help fill a need that’s been exposed since Tyrese Campbell went out with an injury – pace. While Stoke have wide players, they don’t have anyone with the ability to flat out run past defenders and get in behind, Matondo can do this. What Matondo has not been able to demonstrate during his time at Shalke is scoring ability. So while this signing does fill a need and will certainly make Stoke more dangerous, it by no means solves the Potter’s attacking problems.
Matondo will be coming over to Stoke from Shalke where he made 30 Bundesliga starts for the German side over the span of three seasons. Even though Shalke is currently at the bottom of the table and have been winless in their last 30 matches, Matondo has made just 3 appearances for Shalke this season and is clearly looking for a fresh start.
Stoke seemed to have beat out local favorite Cardiff (as well as some other Premier League clubs) in their pursuit of Matondo who was a youth player at the club before being acquired by Manchester City. Cardiff fans seem to be quite upset at the inability to complete this loan move that looked too good to be true for the Bluebirds.
Squad Fit
In analyzing Matondo, the first thing you notice is pace, he has plenty of it. With Tyrese Campbell out for the rest of the season, he will likely be Stoke’s quickest player they will be able to field. He looks like a perfect late-match substitute that defenders would hate to have to deal with, and I’d predict that, at least to start, this will be his role.
While I don’t think skills videos/highlight reels are the best ways to evaluate a player, in this case just a quick watch reveals that Matondo has the ability to be a problem if given room to run. What is concerning is his lack of production. He has just 2 goals and 0 assists in 30 appearances for Shalke. You would think that a player who looks this dangerous would be able to create more and I think there is legitimate concern that while pace and skill are there, finishing and decision making in the final third have yet to be proven at higher levels. Of course, Shalke have been historically bad of late, so Stoke are betting on the skill to translate within their system.
Matondo is versatile and can play multiple positions, but is likely to play wide right for Stoke. Taking a look at his match logs he played just about everywhere last season for Shalke, left-wing, right-wing, attacking mid, and as a striker. He will likely see time out wide when Stoke run a 4-2-3-1.