Stoke City's top 6 record signings: What is each player up to now? | OneFootball

Stoke City are currently languishing near the bottom of the Championship after suffering one of their worst seasons in the 21st century - and fans will long be hoping they can get back to the good old days of Premier League football.

Famed for the Britannia Stadium being a tough place to visit under Tony Pulis with the likes of Rory Delap, Ryan Shawcross, and Ricardo Fuller causing mayhem in the Potteries, they tried a change of style having become an established top-flight outfit by signing stars from the continent.

Whilst that initially worked to some extent, there were various expensive flops that didn't work out - and with that in mind, Football League World takes a look at where their top six record signings are currently plying their trade.

6 Xherdan Shaqiri - £12million

Now this was a signing with genuine quality, and upon reflection of Stoke's time in the Premier League, Xherdan Shaqiri will likely always remain their highest-profile signing having joined from Inter Milan for £12 million back in 2015. The deal was seen as a huge coup at the time, and he didn't disappoint with some dazzling displays.

Despite a somewhat slow start to his career at Stoke, Shaqiri registered 15 goals in 84 Premier League games for Stoke before they were relegated and Liverpool swooped in to nab him, where he became a superb rotation option under Jurgen Klopp. You'd begin to think that it will be a long time before Stoke will possess a player of Shaqiri's quality again unless they make a return to the top flight in the coming years.

Shaqiri currently plies his trade at MLS outfit Chicago Fire.

Benik Afobe joined Stoke in strange circumstances for £12.5million back in 2019. Having excelled for Wolves on a half-season loan back in 2017-18 where he scored six goals amid their eventual promotion under Nuno Espírito Santo, he joined the Molineux outfit the following summer; but without as much as playing a single game for Wolves in a permanent capacity, he was sold to Stoke who had seen them on the way down to the Championship.

A six-month loan with an obligation to purchase for £12million was the reported figure, and his career in Staffordshire was extremely short-lived. An eight-goal haul in his first season in red and white hardly ignited fear in defences, and he embarked upon three separate loan spells at Bristol City, Trabzonspor, and Millwall before joining the Lions permanently last summer.

Dubbed the Welsh Pirlo by many, Joe Allen arrived at Stoke for £13million whilst they were a Premier League side and generally speaking, was a decent acquisition by the Potters. His experience, quality and nous in midfield saw him spend two full seasons at Stoke in the top-flight before their relegation, but he didn't stop there with a further four campaigns in red and white stripes.

212 league appearances for Stoke has seen him become one of their most recognised players over the past decade, though he returned to Swansea following the expiration of his contract with Stoke nowhere near the play-offs and therefore any immediate return to the Premier League.

He remains at the Swansea.com Stadium, and having turned 34 on Thursday, it's entirely plausible he will see out his playing days at the club where it all began.

3 Badou Ndiaye - £14.5million

Another failed signing by Stoke, Badou Ndiaye came to the Premier League with a lot of promise. Arriving from Galatasaray for £14.5million, the Senegal international was brought in to add a dynamic approach to the midfield under Paul Lambert - though their days were numbered with a spate of poor results immediately upon his arrival.

No wins from five against lower-half opposition such as Watford, Brighton, Bournemouth and Southampton, alongside an away trip to Leicester, saw Stoke seriously stranded at the bottom of the division. Ndiaye only scored once in his Premier League tenure, and 14 other appearances at Championship level also bore no goals in what was a failed move from start to finish.

Ndiaye now plays for Pendikspor in the Turkish Super Lig, though they face relegation this term.

2 Kevin Wimmer - £18million

Kevin Wimmer had showed promise at Tottenham Hotspur early in his career, but the Austrian wasn't favoured by those in North London in an era when Mauricio Pochettino oversaw the best of Tottenham's Premier League era. He swiftly joined Stoke for £18 million at the start of their relegation season, but again, this was a move that went horribly wrong.

Criticised by supporters for poor performances and failing to be selected at all by Lambert with a fitness regime being forced upon him, he only made 19 appearances for Stoke before joining Rapid Vienna back in 2021 - meaning that he cost just shy of £1million per performance for the Potters.

Wimmer is currently at Slovak heavyweights Slovan Bratislava, where he looks set to win the top flight.

1 Giannelli Imbula - £18.3million

There is a recurring theme here from Stoke City - and that is that each of their three most expensive signings have all been flops in their own right.

Giannelli Imbula had made 73 appearances for Marseille and 21 appearances for Porto in the three years prior to joining Stoke, and so fans thought they had signed a European-standard player when he waltzed through the doors in a club-record deal back in 2015. Whilst he made a decent start to life in Staffordshire in the first half-season for the club, it quickly went downhill from there.

Imbula was dropped by Mark Hughes, only making 12 league appearances all season in 2016-17 before never appearing for Stoke again. His attitude was also questioned, with Glen Johnson admitting that Imbula once subbed himself off in a pre-season game after not being passed the ball - before subbing himself back on just 10 minutes later. Another huge amount of money wasted from the Potters.

Imbula is currently without a club, having left Turkish club Istanbulspor at the start of February.