Stoke City will want to forget £18.3m deadline day move

Teams frequently overpay for deadline-day signings, and Stoke City did just that in January

when they acquired Giannelli Imbula.

At the age of 23, it seemed like a promising addition to Mark Hughes’ team when it arrived at the Britannia Stadium (now the bet365 Stadium). The young midfield player had already played for

several major clubs throughout Europe and has a handful of professional appearances under

his belt.

He made 37 Ligue 1 games for Marseille in 2014–15, which led to a €20 million (£15.1 million)

transfer to Porto, where he aimed to improve.

Unfortunately, he only stayed with the Portuguese club for six months, and during that time,

he was regularly left out of the player’s team.

However, Stoke City made a move for him since he had gained some useful experience playing

in Liga Portugal and the Champions League.

The Potters were disappointed because they never saw the Marseille version of Imbula, and the midfielder has never returned to the level of play that made him famous early in his career.

Giannelli Imbula’s £18.3 million move to Stoke City

Imbula had a hard time settling in Porto, thus the Dragões decided to sell him during the winter

window. It was widely known that they would be willing to allow him leave in January 2016.

He did, and Hughes’ team paid a club-record £18.3 million for the then-23-year-old, making Porto

a profit of £3.3 million.

The Potters board had a lot of faith in the young player, who they signed to a five-and-a-half-year contract because they thought he might play a significant role in their future.

Giannelli Imbula never lived up to the hype

Fans were given false hope during his first six months with the club because he played frequently

and contributed to the team’s ninth-place finish.
Although his talent was clear when he did play, he was unable to demonstrate it frequently enough

for the manager to commend him.

Get more related news on: https://sportviewers.com