Stoke City will always find Huddersfield Town transfer profit hard to believe | OneFootball

Ramadan Sobhi struggled with the Potters but they still made money on his departure to Huddersfield

Stoke City's transfer business towards the end of their Premier League days was largely poor and a huge factor in their eventual relegation, but they were able to turn a surprising profit on Egyptian winger Ramadan Sobhi, despite his struggle to ever settle in English football after his 2016 arrival.

Sobhi was regarded as one of Egypt's brightest young talents as he emerged from Al-Ahly's academy set-up as an exciting, fast-footed wide man who had a penchant for an unusual trick or skill to get past a defender.

He was snapped up by the Potters in the summer of 2016, with wide acclaim from his home country that he was set to be the next big thing, but the reality of his time in ST4 was quite different.

Sobhi clearly had skills and ability, but the level of the Premier League largely proved to be too big a step-up for him at just 19-years-old. Stoke were relegated from the top-flight in 2018, and although he had rarely impressed, they earned their money back and more when Huddersfield Town made the move to sign him that same summer.

It felt like a strange deal for the Terriers to pursue at the time, and he soon turned out to be a flop in West Yorkshire. The Potters were proved right in their decision to sell him, and many will no doubt still be in shock that the club were able to make a profit on his services.

Ramadan Sobhi never truly settled at Stoke after £5m move

Sobhi was a key part of Al-Ahly's Egyptian Premier League title-winning side in the season prior to his Stoke move, and then-chief executive Tony Scholes expressed his excitement at signing a "special young talent" after his £5m switch to the Potteries had been sealed in July 2016.

He entered a Mark Hughes squad that were heading into the new season off the back of a third successive ninth-placed finish in the Premier League, with the likes of Marko Arnautovic, Xherdan Shaqiri and Jon Walters making up some strong competition for starting places in the wide areas.

It took Sobhi nearly three months to register his first league start for his new club, and he made fleeting bench appearances throughout the first half of his debut campaign before heading off to the African Cup of Nations in January.

An injury to Shaqiri saw Sobhi given his first run of starts for the Potters just after he returned to club action, and he notched his first assist for the club in a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace in February, but struggled to make a positive impact for the rest of the season as Stoke's form dropped off from years gone by, and they finished 13th.

Hughes lost star man Arnautovic in the summer of 2017, but Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting was brought in on a free transfer and went straight ahead of Sobhi in the pecking order for starts in the top-flight. The Egyptian again failed to start consistent games, despite netting his first goal for the club against Rochdale in the EFL Cup, and the Potters soon became embroiled in a relegation battle.

Sobhi's best period of form at the bet365 Stadium came around Christmas-time in 2017, as he scored in successive outings against West Brom and Huddersfield. His relief at bagging his first goal in the Premier League was clear to see against the Baggies, as he ripped his shirt off in celebration, but that was about as good as it got for both him and the club from then on that season.

Hughes was sacked in January and replaced by Paul Lambert, in a decision that many supporters still view as a major factor in their demise. Sobhi started four games under the Scotsman, but could not produce nearly enough quality to help the club out of the bottom three, and Stoke were relegated at the end of the 2017/18 campaign.

Huddersfield handed Stoke a profit on Sobhi - he also flopped with the Terriers

Speculation about Sobhi's future was rife as Stoke prepared for a return to the Championship, with a potential move away mooted following his time at the 2018 World Cup after he had failed to live up to expectations in the top-flight.

They were handed a perfect opportunity to get him permanently off the books by Huddersfield, who signed him for a £5.7 million fee in June ahead of their second season in the Premier League in a move that surprised many supporters in North Staffordshire.

The Terriers clearly felt that his talent was there to be unlocked by David Wagner, but Sobhi made just four appearances off the bench amid knee injury issues in the first half of the season, and even missed a return to the bet365 Stadium in the EFL Cup as Huddersfield sat bottom of the league at the turn of the year.

He had failed to adapt to life at the John Smith's Stadium just as badly as he had at Stoke two years prior, and Town soon allowed him to return to Al-Ahly on loan in the January window, with his time at the club seeming all but over just six months after he had arrived.

Sobhi extended his loan spell in Egypt for the 2019/20 campaign, and then went on to seal a permanent exit from Huddersfield in September 2020 as he made a move to the newly founded Pyramids FC.

He was just 23-years-old by the time he left English football, but had not played for the Terriers for close to two years by the time he finally departed. Now 28, he still plies his trade at Pyramids, who regularly compete at the top of the Egyptian Premier League and in the CAF Champions League.

It is fair to say that Sobhi's relaxed and skill-centred style of play was never a great fit for the English game. He was hyped up to be a potentially world-class winger, but the reality was that he struggled with the pace and intensity of the Premier League.

Regardless, while Stoke supporters will remember him for not really doing too much at the club, it surely still comes as a surprise to know that they actually made a profit on his services, despite his limitations. Huddersfield supporters will no doubt rue his signing as a real flop, given his short stay and their eventual relegation back to the Championship in 2019.