Egyptian winger Ramadan Sobhi says he is trying to avoid the mistakes of Egyptian players who have been taken on by European clubs, insisting that performing well with Stoke City in the English Premier League is more important for him than scoring goals.
The 20-year-old joined Stoke late last summer from Cairo giants Ahly and now seems to have settled in; in recent matches he has been one of the most consistent choices of coach Mark Hughes.
"The most important thing here in England is to train seriously and so I gave 100 percent in the trainings despite missing many matches in the first half of the season," Sobhi said in an interview with Egyptian channel CBC broadcast on Monday.
"I was always trying to avoid thinking negatively about participating in matches. I was left out of the squad in some matches and that made me feel lonely, especially as I was a star in Egypt. I sat alone and cried sometimes, but in the end I trained hard.
"After ending my participation in the African Cup of Nations in February (in which Egypt were runners-up, after losing to Cameroon in the final), I rejoined my team and trained just twice to find myself being praised by all in Stoke City after playing from the start in six consecutive league matches."
Sobhi has scored just one goal with the Potters in 15 league appearances so far.
"I don't search for scoring goals as my main target is performing well and deploying my coach's strategy on the field successfully," explained the Pharaohs player.
"I am trying to avoid the previous mistakes that obliged some Egyptian players to end their experiences in Europe early; like failing to adapt to the atmosphere outside Egypt or a lack of commitment," he concluded.
