Stoke City: Bosun Lawal shares exciting one-word update | OneFootball

The midfielder has taken Instagram ahead of his return to fitness

Stoke City summer signing Bosun Lawal has taken to social media to issue an exciting update to Potters fans ahead of his return to full fitness following a back fracture.

Lawal joined Stoke in August on a four-year deal from Scottish champions Celtic for a reported fee of around £2 million, but is yet to feature for the Potters as yet due to his injury troubles.

The versatile midfielder had been playing for the Bhoys throughout pre-season, but his Potters medical flagged up issues with a stress fracture that he didn’t know he had, and had played with through last season while impressing out on loan at Fleetwood Town in League One.

Stoke have certainly missed his potential impact so far this campaign, amid injury troubles to other midfield players, and he was not even able to play under the head-coach that signed him, Steven Schumacher, after he was sacked by the Potters in mid-September.

Spaniard Narcis Pelach is now the man at the helm in ST4, and is "looking forward" to Lawal's return to full fitness very soon, with the Irishman recently sharing an update of his progress on Instagram.

Bosun Lawal shares exciting update to Stoke fans

Lawal, who has been relatively quiet on social media amid his recovery in the last few months, shared a post to his Instagram page on Monday evening that showed him training on the Clayton Wood pitches, with the one-word caption, "Loading......" to indicate that his return to full fitness is coming soon.

Despite his prolonged absence since his arrival in the Potteries, it is clear that Lawal has been getting to know his new Stoke teammates well, with the likes of Wouter Burger, Andrew Moran, Tom Cannon and Ben Gibson replying to his post with excitement and anticipation for his upcoming involvement in the playing squad.

Lawal is set to make his Stoke debut soon

The exact time-frame set for Lawal's recovery being completed is not clear, but he is clearly nearing a return to full fitness, and Potters sporting director Jonathan Walters recently shared an encouraging update regarding the probability of his debut for the club coming in the next few weeks.

"Bosun is out running and doing really well. He’s desperate to play and it’s been annoying," Walters told StokeOnTrentLive.

"He’s desperate to be involved and he’s pushing himself. He’s doing well, not too far.

"Sam (Gallagher) has had no reaction and he’s pushing too. They’re both running, both fine, so it’s a case of how far we push them and how quickly to make sure that when they come back they don’t get injured."

The 21-year-old is nearing a return to action, and a first appearance in a Stoke shirt since his arrival, which has been long-awaited for both him and Potters supporters, who have understandably questioned his capture, which the club still went ahead with despite his injury.

Walters, though, has been insistent that his Irish compatriot will be a key capture for the long-term future of the club, and Lawal himself spoke out about his recovery last month, with a nod to the club's understanding that he would need his injury to heal in his own time.

"(Walters) was calm and was telling me not to worry, that I had a long-term future at the club. That really helped," he told StokeOnTrentLive.

"It’s frustrating of course. Every footballer wants to play but I’m happy that it can be taken care of and I can be my normal self, playing again.

"It’s not affecting my day-to-day life but it’s just something we need to get on top of so I can be at 100 per cent and give 100 per cent for the club.

"Everyone wants somewhere where they can play regularly and just enjoy their football. That’s what I’m looking for and I feel like Stoke is the right club for that."

Lawal will be encouraged by his team-mates' recent run of form, which has seen Stoke lose just one of their last eight Championship outings, but will certainly feel as if he can break into Pelach's starting eleven soon enough, with the Potters missing a real enforcer in defensive midfield.

It does not look like Stoke fans have too long to wait until they see their summer signing in action for the first time, and his arrival in the squad will certainly be a welcome boost to supporters, team-mates, and boss Pelach alike.