CONFIRMED: Stoke City sign Giannelli Imbula

Stoke City have signed Giannelli Imbula from FC Porto in a Club record-transfer fee of £18.3m.

The 23-year-old Belgian-native has signed a five-and-a-half-year deal at the Britannia Stadium, to conclude business at the Potters’ January dealings.

Stoke manager, Mark Hughes, said:”Giannelli is a good young player. He has great power, good ability on the ball and a great range of passing and there’s no doubt he will add to the quality that we already have at the Club.

“He played against us in pre-season and although I was already aware of him, seeing him at first hand resonated with me.”

Imbula has Champions League experience in the form of his spells at Marseille and Porto – he will add experience and squad depth as Stoke look to push for a European place at the end of the season.