Perhaps one of the biggest flops in recent Stoke City history, Giannelli Imbula is still trying to get his career back on track.
Joining Sochi in February following his exit from the Potters, the player has been without a club since September 2020, and a recent trial at Nantes in France didn’t bring much.
Once seen as a great talent, with successful spells at Guingamp and Marseille in France, the now 28-year-old’s career took a sharp decline when he went to Porto.
A move to Stoke followed shortly after with the hope he could recapture his previous form, which he did, attracting interest from elsewhere.
However, the Potters blocked an exit, which he didn’t take well.
Speaking to So Foot this week, he said: “It really damaged my morale and I didn’t train as well. It was hard. It’s from there that I knew that I didn’t want to stay at Stoke”.
The player was then sent on loan to Toulouse, Rayo Vallecano and Lecce, which the Championship side were hoping would help them resell him, but it wasn’t to be.
That’s why, four years after he joined for close to £22m, he was released of his contract.
