‘How He Carries Himself’ – Stoke City Out-on-loan Talent Impresses Manager | OneFootball

Cameron Smith/Getty Images

Crewe Alexandra boss Lee Bell has hailed Stoke City loan star Emre Tezgel for his brilliant performance against Liverpool Under-21s and he lauded the Potters for the player having an elite mentality.

The Burton-born striker is a product of Stoke’s youth system and made his senior team debut in 2022 when he was only 16 years old.

Tezgel was a prolific presence in Stoke and England’s youth set-up and was considered a top prospect for the future.

The Stoke striker is still fairly young at 20, and this summer, he was sent out on his second loan spell away from the bet365 Stadium.

On Tuesday night, the 20-year-old scored and assisted once against Liverpool Under-21s in an EFL Trophy group stage match at Gresty Road and the Railwaymen boss indicated how highly he is rated at Stoke.

He is not Bell’s go-to striker choice in League Two, but the Crewe boss stressed that Tezgel and his veteran team-mate Louis Moult now have the chance to cement themselves as the first-team striker with Josh March’s injury absence.

“It is down to his attitude; it is so easy for someone like Tez”, the Crewe boss told the club’s in-house media (1:20) when he was asked about the Stoke talent’s performance against the young Reds.

“We know the reputation that he’s got and that Stoke expect big things out of him.

“And he’s probably not got the minutes that he wanted, but his application to training, there have been massive improvements in recent weeks in terms of his numbers.

“And with Josh now being unavailable for some time, it will be down to him and Moulty to try and cement a place in the team.”

Bell hailed Tezgel for his ‘ultra professional’ attitude, despite him not getting the game time he would have wanted.

“He is a great lad – it is a great credit to Stoke.

“How he carries himself, how he communicates, how he’s feeling, doing extra work and there is absolutely no issue on that type of thing.

“He will be frustrated, and if he is, he’s hidden those frustrations really well and has been ultra professional.”

Leeds United were keen on the Stoke talent in June, but the Potters signed a new deal with him, which will keep him at the club until 2027.

Tezgel so far, has started only two League Two games so far, but he has been imperious in the EFL Trophy with four goals and two assists in just two games for Crewe.

The Alex face MK Dons on Saturday and it remains to be seen if the Stoke man will be able to translate his cup form into the league.