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Having joined Liverpool for £2.4M in the summer of 2012, Oussama Assaidi was always a bit of a gamble on value. The speedy Moroccan winger arrived from the Eredivisie with decent technique and a one in four goal return, though due to the low fee there was always a feeling that it would be nice if he panned out rather than that he absolutely needed to.
In the end, he didn't, but while his time in the first team at Liverpool last season underwhelmed, at Stoke City this term under Mark Hughes he looks to have found a comfortable home. With four goals and three in 26 appearances this season despite missing two months with a knee injury, when fit the winger has been a regular and valued contributor for the Potters.
"Ozzy isn't our player, but he has done really well and we will talk about his future," said Stoke boss Mark Hughes when asked about whether he would seek to keep Assaidi on beyond the end of the season. "We have been good for him and he's been good for us but I don't know where his future lies because we haven't had those conversations yet."
Unless Assaidi decides he'd rather head back to the Dutch league, where his name still carries value from his time at Heerenveen, those talks would seem to stand a decent chance in succeeding in keeping him in the West Midlands. It would be an everybody wins move that would make sense for Stoke, make sense for Assaidi, and net a small profit for Liverpool.
