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Jon Walters was a cult hero in the Potteries as a player, and operates in a much different capacity at the club nowadays

Legendary Stoke City boss Tony Pulis loved a bargain buy in his successful period at the club from 2006 to 2013, and one 2010 signing from the Championship went on to become a cult hero in the Potteries, and is still a key part of the club's boardroom in the present day.

Pulis splashed a club-record £8 million on Kenwyne Jones from Sunderland in the summer of 2010, in an unusual move for Stoke to spend that money on one player, and yet it was another, more low-key forward that joined Stoke just days later and epitomised exactly what the club was about over the next seven years.

Jonathan Walters moved to the Potters from Ipswich Town for a reported fee of £2.75m, and the rest was history, as he became an iconic figure at the height of their Premier League success, with goals in key matches and spirit and tenacity week in, week out that won the hearts of Stoke fans.

The Republic of Ireland international was never the quickest or most skilful player, but he was a danger to opponents with his sharp eye for goal and never-say-die attitude that complimented a Potters side that transformed into one of the most aesthetically pleasing teams in the league under Mark Hughes.

Walters left Stoke in 2017, but his connection with the club never faded, and he is now back in a much different capacity, with his influence in ST4 more prevalent than ever over 14 years on from his arrival.

Jonathan Walters was Stoke City personified

How a certain team, or even club as a whole, is perceived, can usually be attributed to the type of players they look to recruit, and there have not been many, if any, as similar to Stoke City's gritty attitude of the late 2000s and early 2010s, than Walters himself.

He initially joined the club as a right midfielder, but was often deployed in a more central striking role by Pulis, who seemed to almost instantly make him a key man after dubbing him a "fantastic professional" following his first goal for the club against Blackburn Rovers in October 2010.

The story of Walters' debut season in ST4 was undoubtedly Stoke's historic FA Cup run, and he was the main man throughout with goals against Cardiff City and Brighton in tight early rounds, before he bagged a brace to help seal the 5-0 semi-final demolition of Bolton Wanderers, and cap off a game that will be savoured by many generations of Potters fans to come.

The final against Man City may not have been Stoke's day, but that run did confirm their spot in the Europa League for 2011/12, which Walters again grasped with both hands.

He scored winners against both Hajduk Split and Besiktas as Pulis led his side to the round of 32, and was once again influential in the Premier League alongside the newly-signed Peter Crouch.

The Merseyside-born forward continued to be a virtual ever-present in the 2012/13 season, as he made a club-record 61 consecutive Premier League starts by November 2012, and he scored a brace in a Boxing Day win over Liverpool just weeks before an infamous game against Chelsea where he missed a penalty and scored two own goals, becoming only the fourth player to do so in the Premier League.

Games like that never deterred his spirit though, as he was almost always the first name on the team sheet under Pulis, and that continued under Mark Hughes in 2013/14, but his run of 102 consecutive league starts did end in December 2013 against Cardiff due to an injury.

Hughes looked to change the conversation around the Potters' style of play completely, and by 2014/15 they were a team filled with former Champions League winners, yet Walters remained a constant and even picked up his first hat-trick for the club against QPR in January 2015, before going on to notch in their 6-1 thrashing of Liverpool on the final day of the season.

He was a lesser influence as time went on, but space was found for him on the right-wing under Hughes if Xherdan Shaqiri played in attacking midfield, and he continued to score key goals off the bench as the Potters chased another European berth.

Walters' final season at the bet365 Stadium saw him make just 13 league starts, and so it felt like a natural end to his time at the club in the summer of 2017 as he departed to join Burnley for a fee of £3m at the age of 33, which actually represented a profit for Stoke on top of all those years of service.

Walters is in a very different role at Stoke nowadays

The Irish international retired from football two years later due to injury, after a return to Ipswich Town, and has been out of the playing side of the game for over five years now, yet all paths have seemingly led him back to the Potteries.

Walters worked as a youth coach at Stoke from 2019 to 2021, and also worked as a scout for the Irish FA in 2022 before he was appointed technical director of League One club Fleetwood Town and sister club Waterford later that year, but left both roles after six months.

Stoke have been through the mire regarding technical directors, or equivalent roles, since their relegation from the Premier League in 2018, and so it may have been a shock to see Walters appointed as their new interim technical director following the departure of Ricky Martin in February of this year, but in hindsight, it makes sense to see him there in such a position.

The Potters have certainly lost their way over the last six years, both on and off the pitch, and Walters' intrinsic understanding of the club, as well as his call to the fans to step up their support, looked to have gone some way to helping them stay up under Steven Schumacher last season, as he was duly named full-time sporting director in April.

It has not been plain sailing for the 41-year-old to date though, and he oversaw the sacking of Schumacher in September, in a shock decision that is bound to be scrutinised in the months and years to come, depending on the club's coming fortunes.

With that said, Walters is undoubtedly a Stoke City hero, and while his reputation is on the line at the club right now, he will always be loved by Potters fans for the brilliant moments he gave them as a player.