Mark Hughes is ready to let Bojan Krkic reprise his Stoke City career despite sending the ex-Barcelona forward on a loan exile to Mainz last season.
Bojan moved to the Bundesliga in January after enduring limited opportunities in Hughes' starting XI.
He scored once in 11 games in German football's top flight - the opening goal in a 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich - and the 26-year-old has a chance to prove himself again at the bet365 Stadium, where he remains a crowd favourite.
"We all have a lot of feelings for Bojan, and it was great to see him back here this morning," Hughes told Stoke City+.
"Although it didn't quite work out for him here last year we have to remember that he was still coming back from a serious injury.
"We are six months down the line now though, and I think that he is in a far better place having played games during the second half of last season.
"He had a nice sharp session this morning and we all saw his quality technical ability, which always comes to the fore to be perfectly honest."
Midway through an impressive debut season at Stoke in 2014-15, Bojan suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury.
In total, he has 15 goals in 60 appearances for the Premier League club, along with three assists.
