Stoke player on his way to finalise exit – Option to buy can become compulsory if two conditions are met

After a whole summer of training with the U23s, Giannelli Imbula is finally leaving Stoke City, and there’s a good chance this could be for the last time too.

While the deal taking him to Lecce, the newly promoted Serie A club ready to give him a chance, is a loan for now, they have an option to buy him for €4m at any point, which isn’t exactly unaffordable.

That option to buy him can become compulsory, however, if the club manage to avoid relegation to Serie B and he makes 25 appearances of 45 minutes or more in the current campaign, according to TuttoMercatoWeb.

That’s a lot to ask for for a player who hasn’t performed well in the past three years or so, but if he fulfils them, he will have proven to be a good asset for Lecce, and keeping him around would make sense.

This is quite a smart piece of business by the Italians, and one Stoke City can benefit from eventually, even if they will make a considerable loss of any sale, considering they spent over £20m on him in the first place.

The 26-year-old spent last season on loan at Rayo Vallecano where he made 22 La Liga appearances, scoring one goal and assisting teammates once.