Stoke City manager Nathan Jones has told the club website that they had to fight off a host of Championship clubs to sign Nick Powell.

Jones says that free agent Powell was his "number one target".

The 25-year-old has been at Wigan since 2016 and has impressed since being at the club, scoring 41 goals in all of his 140 appearances at Wigan - including a loan spell from Manchester United in 2013/14. In the past season he played 32 games, scoring eight and assisting seven - not a bad return from a player who spent most of the season fighting relegation.

Powell was announced as one of five new signings on Tuesday (June 25), along with Adam Davies, Liam Lindsay, Lee Gregory and Jordan Cousins. Stephen Ward became the sixth signing of the week yesterday.

According to Nathan Jones, Powell was a much sought-after man as his contract came to an end, and the manager is evidently chuffed with the business.

He told the club website: “He’s a serious lad. I had a number of meetings with Nick and spoke to him about the seriousness of coming here and the implications of coming here.

"He had a lot of interest. When a player of that ability comes on the market, technically, without a transfer fee then clubs were queuing up.

“We identified things we wanted from an attacking midfield player and he was our number one target – but a lot comes with that in terms of the responsibility of playing for Stoke and buying into what we do.

“We had a second meeting with him and he said, ‘Look, if I want an easy ride I’d go elsewhere.’

“So he’s excited about it, he’s going to buy into everything we do and I’m very excited about working with him because he’s a wonderfully talented footballer.

“There are certain things we need to do with him but he’s a fantastic acquisition. There was so much competition for that signing.”

The Verdict

Jones is really happy with this signing, and he has the right to be as he is very capable at this level.

Stoke need more goals. That much is clear from their dismal goalscoring record in the league last year, scoring only 45 goals - less than one a game. In Powell, they have someone who will score goals from midfield, so in that sense, the transfer makes lots of sense.

Bearing the previous in mind, it is not surprising why he considers Powell as the "top target". With Stoke having to be cautious with their wage bill, he is a potential solution to many of their issues.