Birmingham City defender Curtis Davies has backed Jack Butland over his move to Stoke City.
The goalkeeper is playing out the season on-loan at Brum.
Davies told the Daily Mail: "There were other teams who were after him, bigger names who probably would have given him a bigger salary but he didn't want to go somewhere just for the tag 'I play for this team'.
"He wanted to go somewhere he could learn and progress his game. That's what he is like as a person. He does things the way he wants to and not the way that the masses want him to do it.
"He is very mature for his age. I can have a conversation with him about anything and he knows where I'm coming from. You look at the kids coming through from the youth team and there is a huge difference."