Stoke City have signed Giannelli Imbula from FC Porto for a club-record fee of £18.3million.
The 23-year-old French defensive midfielder has signed a five-and-a-half-year deal with the Potters for a fee surpassing the £12m spent on Xherdan Shaqiri.
The arrival of Imbula delighted manager Mark Hughes who was impressed by his ability when Stoke met Porto in pre-season.
"Giannelli is a good young player," he told the club's official website.
“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 joined Porto from Marseille in the summer but struggled for regular game time in Portugal and will now fill the void left by Steven Nzonzi who departed the Britannia Stadium for Sevilla at the beginning of the season.
#scfc delighted to confirm the signing of Giannelli Imbula from Porto for £18.3m - https://t.co/lkLqlVUn9Fpic.twitter.com/8B5LvfdzGN
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) February 1, 2016
