Stoke have announced they have completed a deal to sign former Schalke winger Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting on a three-year deal until June 2020.
The Potters have been on the market for a new left winger following the departure of Marko Arnautovic to West Ham and have now signed Choupo-Moting on a free transfer after his contract expired at the end of last season.
Mark Hughes’ side have now four signings this summer and three of those have been by way of tree transfers, although Choupo-Moting appears shrewd business given they banked more than £20m from Arnautovic’s departure.
“Eric has been on our radar for several years and we actually tried to bring him to the club four years ago,” chief executive Tony Scholes told the club’s official website.
“The competition to sign him this summer was particularly intense with clubs across Europe wanting him.
“We are understandably thrilled to have secured his signature and Eric is excited about the prospect of playing in the Premier League.”
The 28-year-old has spent his entire professional career in Germany playing for various clubs like Hamburg and Mainz before spending the last three years with Schalke.
However, the Cameroon international dropped down the pecking order at Schalke last season and was limited to just 19 league starts. However, Schalke’s win ratio was far superior when the winger started (42.1%) compared to when he was left out the starting XI (20%).