Stoke City star Xherdan Shaqiri started out at FC Basel, and a lot was expected from the Swiss winger. Rightly so, he earned his big move to Bayern Munich, but things didn’t go according to plan at the Bundesliga club.
Shaqiri failed to enforce himself in Bayern’s starting XI during his three years at the club, and decided to leave the club. Things didn’t really work out at Inter Milan either, and when the big clubs didn’t come in for him, Shaqiri signed for Stoke City.
Throughout his career, Shaqiri has been linked to top European clubs, and was expected to achieve greater things. Making his debut for the Swiss international team at the age of 19, his former national manager Ottmar Hitzfeld has been speaking about his current situation to Swiss newspaper Blick.
Hitzfeld insists Shaqiri could have been a little more patient at Bayern Munich, and that he was annoyed when he moved to Inter: “I was annoyed that he left too early from Bayern Munich to Inter Milan. I was convinced that he would have become a regular at Bayern, sooner or later.”
Hitzfeld added he would ‘feel sorry’ for Shaqiri if he kept playing at Stoke City, as he believes the Premier League side are ‘wandering around in no man’s land’, and the 25-year-old deserves to play at a much bigger club.
He added: “At Stoke, he plays in the Premier League, but the team is wandering around in no man’s land.
“This is not necessarily exciting, but if he now plays regularly and doesn’t have too many muscle problems, then surely the attention of big clubs will be drawn to him.
“I would feel sorry for him if he would play forever at Stoke. He has the potential to make a career with a top team.”
Clearly, Hitzfeld isn’t a big fan of Stoke City, but Shaqiri has failed to perform consistently in the Premier League, and has only shown glimpses of his quality.
