There is only one Stoke City positive from torrid Aston Villa deal: View | OneFootball

After being released by Aston Villa last summer, Stoke City moved to sign Brazilian striker Wesley on a one-year deal as part of a busy summer transfer window which saw them bring in 18 new signings.

After a few seasons of lower mid-table finishes, the expectations were that Stoke would kick on under Alex Neil this season with a squad full of new players, but it's been far from the case.

Neil departed the club in December, and a number of the club's summer signings have failed to impress - with Wesley being one of the main culprits.

The 27-year-old striker is a Brazil international, and despite enduring a miserable few seasons at Aston Villa where he scored just six times in 26 games across four seasons as a Villa player, there was hope he could find his feet in the second tier of English football.

After all, Villa paid £22.5million to bring him to the club from Club Brugge in 2019, so there must be a player there, but if there is, Stoke certainly haven't seen it yet.

Wesley's time at Stoke City has been a disaster

On paper, you can see why Stoke decided to bring Wesley to the club. The Brazilian is tall and strong, so he would be a threat in the air and could thrive thanks to the physical nature of the Championship, but that's not been the case.

In total, the former Villa man has played just 23 games in all competitions for the Potters and is yet to score. He's also not been included in a matchday squad since the 9th March, and hasn't made an appearance since the 14th February.

Given Stoke's recent relegation battle, you'd have thought that someone like Wesley could be at least an option from the bench, but it appears that Steven Schumacher doesn't rate him in the slightest.

The striker has made just five Championship starts this season, all of which came in August and September, and he hasn't completed 90 minutes in a Stoke shirt once this season.

Punters at The bet365 Stadium will be scratching their heads as to how the Wesley they've seen play this season has been capped by Brazil in a game against Argentina, and why Villa decided to play £22m for him just four-and-a-half-years ago.

His time at Stoke has been a disaster, and he's likely played his last game for the Potters with just two fixtures remaining.

There is one positive for Stoke City

There is one positive for Stoke City and that is they only gave Wesley a one-year contract, which means he will leave this summer.

The club would be in a very difficult position now had he had any longer on his deal, as they would struggle to find a club this summer to take him off their hands.

Whilst signing Wesley was obviously the wrong move, at least the club saw sense in only giving him a one-year deal given his recent struggles in past seasons.

The player's stats make grim reading this season, and Stoke will be thanking their lucky stars that Wesley's contract is up this summer.

It's been a miserable campaign for the Potters and Wesley's time at the club has been indicative of that.