Stoke City midfielder Steven Nzonzi has joined La Liga side Sevilla in a deal worth a club record £7m.

A Stoke statement said: "The club would like to place on record its thanks to Steven and offer him our best wishes."

Stoke's previous record sale was the £4.5m they received for striker Tuncay from Wolfsburg in 2011.

Nzonzi had a transfer request rejected by the Potters two years ago, and boss Mark Hughes did not want to sell him this summer.

"We worked really hard to persuade him his future lay here but it didn't seem to be enough for him," added Hughes.