Remarkable Stoke City, Champions League link shows how far Potters have fallen: View | OneFootball

Stoke City have endured one of the most difficult Championship campaigns in recent seasons, but secured their stay in the second tier for another year.

The Potters' victory over Plymouth Argyle last month all but secured their place in the division, making absolutely sure by producing a fine away triumph over Southampton.

For Steven Schumacher, the summer will consist of a much-needed rebuild of the squad as he prepares for his first full term in charge at the bet365 Stadium, hopeful of creating a squad that can challenge for a return to the Premier League.

It is a stark reminder of where Stoke once found themselves during their time in the top flight, possessing some excellent, experienced talent within their ranks, with that quality reminded in a quite remarkable statistic revealed following Real Madrid's Champions League semi-final clash with Bayern Munich on Tuesday evening.

Stoke City's 2015/16 Premier League squad

Ahead of the 2015/16 campaign, Mark Hughes was looking to assemble a squad capable of challenging for the European places, having finished ninth the season prior.

The Potters assembled a squad filled with an array of talent, with the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri, Glen Johnson, Ibrahim Afellay, and Joselu making the move to the bet365 Stadium ahead of the upcoming term.

It would prove to be a significant financial outlay, with the club spending £45 million throughout the campaign as they welcomed one player to the club in Giannelli Imbula, who joined from Porto.

Hughes already had Marko Arnautovic, Mame Biram Diouf and Peter Crouch within his ranks, but was intent on improving his options to ensure a higher finish in the standings.

However, it would prove to be in vain, with the Potters finishing in the same position the following season, with three fewer points in fact, but they still impressed nevertheless.

Joselu's Real Madrid appearance reveals remarkable Stoke City statistic

One of those players who arrived in the summer was Joselu, who arrived from Hannover 96 for a reported fee of £5.75 million.

The Spaniard would spend just one season with the club, scoring four goals in 27 appearances, before being loan to Deportivo and completing a permanent switch to Newcastle United.

Despite not having an overly impressive goal return, the 34-year-old would join 14-time Champions League winners Real Madrid on loan in the summer, which was a surprise to most within the footballing world.

But what would come as a bigger shock is the fact that the striker's substitute appearance against Bayern Munich in midweek would make him the seventh former Stoke player to feature in the semi-final of the European competition that was part of the 2015/16 side.

As first revealed by Richard Jolly, members of Mark Hughes' squad from that season would feature in 10 of the last 20 Champions League semi-finals, which is quite a mad statistic.

Bojan Krkic would make the most appearances at that stage of the competition during his time with Barcelona, winning the trophy on two occasions.

Xherdan Shaqiri would also win the competition twice with Bayern Munich and Liverpool, with Ibrahim Afellay winning the competition in the 2010/11 season.

Champions League statistic shows just how far Stoke have fallen

Since their relegation from the Premier League in the 2017/18 season, the Potters have shown no real signs of retaining their top flight status.

Their highest finish in the Championship has been 14th, with the club often lingering around mid-table mediocracy and seemingly happy to be in that position.

But this most recent campaign will serve as a timely reminder just how far the football club has fallen in such a short amount of time, once possessing previous and future Champions League winners within their ranks, to now having a squad that almost saw them relegated to the third tier for the first time since 2002.

The upcoming transfer window will be one of the most important for the Potters in recent years, and they hope they will be able to get it right to ensure they are once again able to attract players of that calibre to the bet365 Stadium in the years to come.