Stoke City have had some outstanding players on their books throughout the years, and their recent top-flight success has produced countless club legends and cult heroes who are still highly regarded at the bet365 Stadium.
The Potters have had a turbulent few years since being relegated to the Championship in 2018, but they were once a top-half Premier League team with multiple Champions League winners on their roster.
Stoke City’s success in the top-flight led to the acquisition of well-known players for low fees or record transfers. Additionally, the club developed a number of lesser-known players who later became stars.
While ST4 supporters await their next wave of success, we’ve taken a trip down memory lane and selected six great signings made by the Potters over the last 20 years, in no particular order.
Ryan Shawcross
While the term ‘legend’ should not be used lightly when referring to footballers, Ryan Shawcross is arguably one of Stoke’s most iconic players in recent years.
Tony Pulis made the centre-back’s loan move from Manchester United to the Britannia Stadium permanent in the 2008 January window, as the Potters aimed for Premier League promotion.
He quickly helped Pulis’ side reach the promised land, and he remained at the club for the next thirteen years as a stalwart and commanding captain at the heart of the team’s backline, making 453 appearances for Stoke by the time he left in 2021, captaining his teammates from 2010 until his departure, including the 2011 FA Cup Final.
Shawcross’ connection to the Potters has, of course, continued after he retired from playing, as he is currently the club’s under-21s head coach and even managed the senior side for one game after Steven Schumacher was fired in September.
Xherdan Shaqiri
In August 2015, Xherdan Shaqiri joined Stoke from Inter Milan for a club-record fee of £12.5 million. He quickly became a fan favourite with his outstanding Premier League performances in red and white.
During his tenure with Stoke, the Swiss international scored 15 goals and provided 15 assists in 92 appearances. However, he left for Liverpool in 2018 after failing to help the team avoid relegation to the Championship.
| Xherdan Shaqiri 2017/18 Stoke statistics | |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 36 |
| Goals | 8 |
| Assists | 7 |
| Progressive passes per 90 | 4.77 |
| Progressive carries per 90 | 2.40 |
| Shot-creating actions per 90 | 4.29 |
| Stats as per FBref, league games only | |
While at the bet365 Stadium, Shaqiri established a reputation in English football for his speed, trickery, and brilliant ball-striking, and he was an important member of Mark Hughes’ ‘Stokealona’ side, which produced some of the best football and seasons the club has ever seen.
Peter Crouch
Peter Crouch is an iconic character in English football, and while he may be most commonly recognised for his exploits at international level, or his periods at Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, it was actually with Stoke where he spent the most years of his career, and made the most appearances.
After being signed for a then-club-record fee of £12m from Spurs in 2011, Crouch went on to feature heavily in the Potters’ first European campaign for 36 years, and scored an outstanding goal against Manchester City in 2012, which is widely thought to be one of the best goals in both club and Premier League history.
The six-foot, seven-inch striker bagged double figures in four separate seasons during his time in the Potteries, and is Stoke’s leading Premier League goalscorer of all-time, with 45 top-flight strikes for the club, as he finished with 62 goals scored in total from 261 appearances before his January 2019 switch to Burnley.
Bojan
Ex-Barcelona offensive midfielder Bojan was a key figure in the Potters’ ‘Stokealona’ days under Hughes, winning the hearts of City supporters with his star turns and breathtaking forward play from 2014 to 2019.
Bojan was once dubbed the ‘next Lionel Messi’ during his rise from La Masia to the Spanish giants, but it was at Stoke that he most clearly demonstrated his undoubted talent, shining alongside Shaqiri and Marko Arnautovic in both the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons.
His time with the Potters was unfortunately marred by persistent injury issues, and he eventually left the club in 2019 after loan spells in Germany and Spain with Mainz and Alaves, respectively, but he has since dubbed Stoke his “second home” after playing some of his best football in the Premier League.
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