Stoke City‘s club-record signing Giannelli Imbula has completed an escape route from the Championship club by penning a season-long loan deal with La Liga side Rayo Vallecano.
Imbula’s £18m arrival at Stoke City in January 2016 surprised plenty after the midfielder had made a name for himself as one of FC Porto’s most promising players.
But the 25-year-old has only made 28 appearances for Stoke to date and spent last season on loan with Ligue 1 side Toulouse, where he helped them to avoid relegation.
Stoke boss Gary Rowett is reported to have told Imbula that he was free to leave the club this summer, with the former Porto man said to be on wages of over £30,000 a week.
Where did it go wrong for Imbula?
The midfielder, who rejected a call-up to the Congolese national side earlier this year, actually made 14 Premier League starts in the second half of the 2015/16 season following his mid-season arrival from Portugal.
But he only made 12 appearances the following season and did not feature at all for the club in the final three months of the campaign.
Former Stoke boss Mark Hughes claimed last summer that Imbula had failed to adapt to life in the Premier League and, a year on, it still appears that he has no future with the club.
Stoke are currently 17th in the Championship following their relegation, having won one, drawn two and lost two of their opening five games.
The Potters face fellow relegated Premier League side West Bromwich Albion this weekend.
The post Club-record signing leaves Stoke on season-long loan appeared first on Squawka News.
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