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Stoke City came close to being relegated to League One last season, and their fans will be hopeful there is a dramatic change at the club to get them back to the Premier League.
The Potters have struggled to get close to returning to the English top flight since their relegation from the Premier League in 2018.
While promotion is a huge ambition, the Potters have a lot of work to do before they can think about that again, and Mark Robins needs to make signings.
Fans would love to see the club being able to boast the financial muscle they once had, as seen in the period in the top flight, with their most expensive signings coming while they were in the Premier League.
EFL Analysis brings you the five most expensive signings in Stoke City’s history.
- READ MORE: Mark Robins must end seven years of disappointment soon, Stoke City are missing the Premier League
Top five most expensive Stoke City signings
5. Joe Allen – £13 million
Joe Allen joined the Potters from Liverpool for a large fee of £13 million after he spent four seasons at the Merseyside club under Brendan Rodgers and Jurgen Klopp.
He left the club in order to play first-team football, partly to help his international career.
Stoke City believed he would help strengthen the midfield, and he had a mixed period at the club, as he joined them in the Premier League and remained with them after they were relegated to the Championship.
He would leave the club in July 2022 upon the expiration of his contract with Stoke and rejoin Swansea City.
4. Badou Ndiaye – £14 million
Badou Ndiaye joined Stoke City in January 2018 in order to attempt to help keep the club in the Premier League.
His signing would not have the desired effect, as he featured in 13 matches in that relegation campaign.
Ndiaye would remain contracted to the club until the summer of 2021 but would spend this period out on loan on four occasions and only play a further 14 matches.
He will not be fondly remembered by fans, as he scored 2 goals as a striker across 27 games.
3. Xherdan Shaqiri – £14.6 million
Xherdan Shaqiri was a statement signing by Stoke City, as it demonstrated how far they had come since promotion to the Premier League by the time he joined the club in July 2015.
The Switzerland international had struggled at Inter Milan after he had left Bayern Munich, and Stoke took the chance to sign him and reignite his career.
Stoke enjoyed watching the winger for three seasons before he joined Liverpool, as he scored some fantastic goals and provided some amazing assists.
His £14.6 million signing was a major signing fans will be pleased the club splashed out on.
2. Kevin Wimmer – £18 million
The Austrian international would join Stoke after he struggled in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur.
Stoke would spend a considerable amount of money on Kevin Wimmer to bring him to the club, with £18 million being spent.
Wimmer will not be remembered fondly by Potters fans, as while he was contracted to the club for four seasons, he would only play 19 matches until Stoke got relegated at the end of that campaign.
He spent the next three seasons out on loan while Stoke struggled in the Championship, with the Austrian showing no interest in helping them gain promotion.
1. Giannelli Imbula – £18.3 million
The most expensive signing that Stoke City ever made was when they spent £18.3 million on Giannelli Imbula from Porto in February 2016.
In the first half season at the club, he performed well and impressed many of his teammates.
However, things would quickly change at the start of next season, as Mark Hughes did not trust the midfielder, and Stoke would look to get rid of him from this point.
They would be unable to sell him over the next three seasons, and he would be sent out on loan to three different clubs before his contract was terminated in February 2020.