Stoke City finalise £18.3m deal for Giannelli Imbula from Porto

Stoke City have announced the signing of Giannelli Imbula from Porto for £18.3m.

The Premier League outfit have smashed their club record transfer fee to land the Belgium-born France Under-21 international on a five-and-a-half-year contract.

A photo posted by Stoke City FC (@stokecity) on Feb 1, 2016 at 2:34pm PST

The 23-year-old midfielder signed a long-term contract with Porto just last summer, but has now opted to move to the Premier League.

Stoke chief executive Tony Scholes told the club's official website: "Giannelli is a player we have been trailing for some time and we are delighted to have concluded a deal to sign him.

"At one stage it looked unlikely that we would be able to get the deal over the line but things accelerated quickly earlier today and Giannelli is really excited about the prospect of playing in the Premier League with us." Manager Mark Hughes added: "Giannelli is a good young player. He has great power, good ability on the ball and a great range of passing and there's no doubt he will add to the quality that we already have at the club.

"He played against us in pre-season and although I was already aware of him, seeing him at first hand resonated with me."

Xherdan Shaqiri's £12m fee in July 2015 was Stoke's previous record sum.