Joe Allen became a new member of the Potters after Stoke City confirmed the news of the midfielder’s signature on their official Twitter account. It was highly speculated that the midfielder will be leaving Liverpool this season and the Reds were open to offers from other clubs.
Stoke agreed a £13 million deal for the Welshman to bring him to the Bet-365 stadium. There was some competition from Allen’s former club Swansea, who held positive talks with the Liverpool officials. Swansea, with their new owner, had the money to invest and were willing to match the £13 million asking price set by Liverpool but the deal went the way of the Potters.
Allen, 26, had only a year left on his contract and Liverpool were willing to cash-in. Stoke finally managed to see-off Swansea and offered him a contract that runs for 5 years till 2021. The 26-year-old midfielder has been handed in the No. 4 shirt, and with the team already in U.S, it is believed that Allen will soon fly away to meet his new team members at Orlando.
Back in January Joe Allen scored a winning penalty against Stoke City to take Liverpool to the final of the 2016 Football League Cup Final. Little did he anticipate that he will be happy to play for the Potters 8 months later. Expressing his excitement he said:
“It’s been a whirlwind 48 hours for me but I am delighted to have finally been able to put pen to paper.
“I was really excited as soon as I heard of the Club’s interest and it wasn’t a difficult decision for me to make.
“I am incredibly excited about my future here at Stoke City.”
An incredible Euro 2016
Allen just had a remarkable Euro 2016 for his country. His performances were instrumental in taking Wales all the way to the semifinal for the first time in a major tournament, where they lost to the eventual champions Portugal. However, his heroics didn’t go unnoticed as he was included in the Euro 2016 team of the tournament.
Allen began his career with Swansea in 2007. Five years later, with Brendan Rodgers in charge at the Kop, Allen was brought to Merseyside in a deal worth £11 million. He leaves the club after having made a total of 91 appearances and scoring 4 goals in the process.
The Welshman played a total of 8 games for Liverpool last season and gradually fell down the pecking order under Jurgen Klopp. However, he scored 2 important goals this year. Apart from that winning penalty against Stoke, he scored a last minute equalizer against Arsenal in the premier league to earn Liverpool a point.
It remains to be seen how he performs, but considering his performance in the Euros he is a good signing for Mark Hughes.
