Bosun Lawal grateful for Stoke City show of faith as Celtic transfer threw up unexpected drama

Bosun Lawal is a mixture of frustrated, patient and relieved as he works behind the scenes to get ready for his Stoke City entrance.

Stoke won a big summer race to bring in the 21-year-old from Celtic on a four-year contract but a medical flagged up a stress fracture in his lower back that he had been playing with without realising all through last season on loan at Fleetwood. It means that he’s a spectator at the moment, watching his new teammates and undergoing regular scans hoping for the green light to join in. There is no specific time frame but no long-term concerns, just the knowledge that this annoying little period is a necessary evil.

“I’ve had it for a while without realising and I played with it all through last season,” he said. “I’m happy that it has been identified now and it can be sorted and I can get to my best for the long-term, rather than it getting worse.

“It’s frustrating of course. Every footballer wants to play but I’m happy that it can be taken care of and I can be my normal self, playing again. It’s not affecting my day-to-day life but it’s just something we need to get on top of so I can be at 100 per cent and give 100 per cent for the club.”

Stoke’s sporting director Jon Walters was with Lawal at the medical when the issue was raised and was on hand to give assurances. It has echoes of Stoke’s commitment to Rory Delap when he broke his leg on loan in 2007, doing the right thing by players they are confident will more than repay that faith in the long-term.

“That was good,” said Lawal. “He was calm and was telling me not to worry, that I had a long-term future at the club. That really helped.”

For now, Lawal is getting to watch the Championship. He stood out in League One last season in his first campaign playing regular football and is ready for the next challenge.

He has made three big moves in his career to date; from Dublin where he grew up to Watford as a 16-year-old, to Celtic two years later and now to the Potteries, where he is eager to lay down roots and start fulfilling what is widely believed to be massive potential.

“It’s a big step and that’s what you want, keep stretching yourself and learning about yourself. I’m raring to go and let’s just see what happens,” he said.

“Everyone wants somewhere where they can play regularly and just enjoy their football. That’s what I’m looking for and I feel like Stoke is the right club for that.

“I enjoyed my time at Celtic. It’s obviously a massive club. I didn’t play as much as I would have liked but I still learned a lot and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been part of that team that won the amount of trophies that they won with some amazing players.”

He had joined Celtic as a centre-half but he’s developed into a box-to-box midfielder who can also play the holding role, in the middle of defence and at right-back. He insists he will be happy with any role he is asked to play by Steven Schumacher.

“I genuinely don’t mind where I play,” he said. “But I probably prefer somewhere in central midfield. At Fleetwood last year I scored goals as an 8.”

It was Stoke old boy Charlie Adam who oversaw that development at Fleetwood after taking over as manager around Christmas time last season. It was a difficult season for the club but Lawal’s powerhouse performances stood him out as a player to watch – and, in turn, he is in no doubt that Adam has a big future as a manager too.

It will be a happy reunion next Tuesday when Adam brings Fleetwood to Stoke in the Carabao Cup third round.

Lawal said: “He’s a great guy and makes everything easy. He lets you do what you need to do, play your game. He’s properly nice off the pitch, makes sure you’re settled in and happy.

“One hundred per cent he’s got a good future as a manager. He’s a great coach. You can see what he’s doing at Fleetwood now. They’re on a good cup run now and it’ll be nice to see everyone next week.

“It was a good season there, enjoyable but tough as well and I learned a lot about myself and about the league and playing senior football really. Playing academy football is so different to playing men’s football and I learned a lot. You develop a lot when you’re playing regularly and I was able to test myself in different positions with games week in, week out.”

There are familiar faces in the home changing room as well, not least his old pal and rival Andrew Moran.

“Me and Andy go back a long way from Ireland schoolboy games,” he said. “I played against him a lot and never liked playing against him really – but what a player. Tom Cannon as well. There are some familiar faces in there. Enda Stevens as well, I met in the summer when I was with the Ireland first team. A really nice guy. It just makes you feel welcome.”

He knows Walters from his work with Ireland too - and fellow Stoke legend Glenn Whelan.

Lawal said: “(Whelan) was my Ireland coach, a legend. He sent me a message when I signed and I bumped into him at the Coventry game. If I can have half the impact he had at Stoke then we’ll have done something right.”

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