Defender Goran Popov will soon represent Macedonia in the English Premier League after Dynamo Kyiv has opted to send the player on a season long loan to Stoke City.

The loan agreement was confirmed on Stoke City’s official website with the club noting that Popov should finalize the move on Monday.  After Dynamo Kyiv recently signed left back Taye Taiwo, the future was unclear for Popov.  Taiwo was signed to play regularly and in the previous league game in Ukraine, Goran played as a right back.  After that game, Popov was interviewed and talked about being uncomfortable of playing on the right side.

Stoke City and its manager Tony Pulis are familiar with Popov as Stoke and Dynamo Kyiv faced off twice in the group stages of the Europa League last season.  In addition, Pulis mentioned that Stoke scouted Popov in the Champions League qualifier between Feyenoord and Dynamo Kyiv earlier this week and came away satisfied with his performance.

Pulis said the following to Stoke City’s official website, “Goran really impressed me last season.  He’s an experienced player for his age and he has a great left foot on him.  Naturally gifted left-sided players are like gold-dust, so he will give us strength in depth down that left hand side which can only improve us.  We had him watched when he played in the Europa League against Feyenoord the other night and he did exceptionally well in that game.”

For the fans of Stoke City, Popov is a big and tall left back who can also play further up the field in left midfield.  He does indeed have a strong left foot and often attempts shots from distance during games.  Goran’s biggest weakness is that he can sometimes get caught out of position on defense, but he is a hard working player with good character.  In addition, he speaks English so communication with his new teammates and coaches should not be a problem.

Popov joined Dynamo Kyiv in the summer of 2010 as a free agent after his contract expired with Dutch side Heerenveen.  During the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons with Dynamo Kyiv (plus the four league games already played this season), Goran has been limited to just 32 league appearances out of a maximum 64 games, in large part due to a couple of injuries. 

Goran will now be sent on loan to Stoke City who also have the option to purchase him outright next summer.  The Stoke City manager said, “It’s a season-long loan, so we have got a good opportunity to see how he adjusts to English football before we make a commitment to signing him.”