Stoke boss relishing the prospect of developing young talent Cisse

MARK Robins is looking forward to getting the chance to work with 'exciting' Lamine Cisse as he eyes up what he can offer both now and in the future.

- Peter Smith

Forward Cisse has become Stoke's ninth signing of the summer after completing a move from French Ligue 2 side Bastia for a fee believed to be about €2.5 million.

The 22-year-old is currently recovering from a minor shoulder injury which added an extra layer of due diligence to the deal - but Robins points to a four-year contract to say it would have been silly not to proceed once medics gave the green light.

Robins believes Cisse can drive standards and can make an impact this season while having a lot of potential to tap into beyond that too.

He said: “He's got an injury, which is why it took so long. We needed to find out the severity of it and it's not as severe as we were fearing and he's somebody we've been looking at for a while so not to push through with it would have been stupid because it's a long-term deal.

“He's exciting. He's 22 years of age and only just starting to develop. Last season was his real breakthrough really and he scored I think nine goals and five assists. He's creative, he's quick, he's direct, he’s someone who can provide and score and he’s something that we lack at times.