This week, upon his return from another two-goal outburst while on international service, Million Manhoef met with Steven Schumacher to discuss how he might further develop.
The 22-year-old right winger has scored 10 goals in his previous 17 club and national appearances, two of which have helped the Netherlands secure a spot in the under-21 European Championship.
A few days before, he had scored twice in a 5-0 rout of Middlesbrough and had gone into the break with the win at Plymouth.
He will be one of the first names on the teamsheet when Stoke line up at Oxford United today (12.30pm) but neither him nor his coaches are resting on their laurels.
Schumacher said: “He’s a talented player. When we came into the building and we spoke about the kind of profile of players we had and how I envisaged the team, we had a couple of games before we got to the January window. We didn’t have a left-footed attacking player, which is what I had at my previous club with a wide player who cuts in from that right side and can score goals from outside the box and inside the box.
“We highlighted that and spoke to the recruitment team at the time and there was Million Manhoef on the list. We went off and did the research and watched the games and went through his profile and decided to go and buy him. I’m really grateful that we did and so far he’s shown what a good player he is. I still think there’s loads of improvement for him as well.
“He’s got a number of goals last season, he’s started this season positively but I think there are loads of areas in his game he can improve on and he’s a really good kid. I’ve just had him in my office going through some stuff with him. He wants to get better and I’ve got loads of time for people like that.”
Schumacher said: “He’s good, a laid back character, a really popular member of the team. He’s always got a smile on his face. Sometimes in training you want a bit more off him and you can tell him not to be sloppy but that’s just us trying to drive the standards. Training over here must be completely different to how it was at Vitesse.
“But he’s settled in really well and it looks like he’s enjoying his football. That’s an important thing, if you’re happy with what you’re doing then you can produce good performances on the pitch and long may that continue.
“He’s bright and he’s a nice kid with a good family background behind him. He comes into work and looks like he enjoys it. He’s ideal to work with and those are the kind of players you want to help and want to see progress in their career and get all the way to the top if they can.”
