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Nathan Jones hopeful of keeping Ndiaye with Stoke City this season

Posted on October 7, 2019  in Stoke

Stoke City manager Nathan Jones remains hopeful of keeping Badou Ndiaye within the club’s ranks for the ongoing season. The midfielder spent the previous campaign on loan with Turkish champions Galatasaray and the Istanbul outfit are understood to have the option to buy him during this summer’s transfer window.

Speaking to reporters, Jones acknowledged that there have been no concrete offers for the Senegalese at the moment and he is hopeful that the European transfer window closes with the midfielder still in the club’s ranks, he said: “We will see,” said Jones. We’ve had no offers for him. We’ve had inquiries, but no offers. And of course I am happy with that. He’s a fantastic player and I’d like him to stay. I’d like to keep him.”

Ndiaye joined the Potters in January 2018 when they were in the Premier League and he was impressive with 13 appearances where he contributed two goals and an assist. Despite this, the player wanted to pursue a bigger challenge elsewhere rather than dropping to the Championship and that saw him make the temporary move to Gala, where he won the Turkish League and Cup double.

At the present moment, Ndiaye has not made a comeback with Stoke due to the late return after the African Cup of Nations exploits, but he could feature for the club during the forthcoming games, should there be no offers to acquire his signature. Elsewhere, Jones was pleased with the 1-0 win over Wigan Athletic during the League Cup 1st round and he is hoping for better Championship luck after back-to-back losses to start the season.

He said: “We’ve moved the ball very well and late on we had chances to put the game to bed, but we saw it out and are happy with a win. Saturday (v Derby) is another test at home. I’m a little bit disappointed we aren’t going into it with at least three points and a win on top of the win (v Wigan). That would have really built morale. It’s important we gather a bit of momentum.”