Monday 1 February 2016 22:44, UK
Stoke are close to completing the signing of Porto midfielder Giannelli Imbula, Mark Hughes has confirmed.
The 23-year-old former France U21 international is seen as an ideal replacement for Steven N'Zonzi, who joined Spanish club Sevilla for £7m in July.
The deal for Imbula is expected to cost Stoke £18m - a club record fee, breaking the previous record of £12m spent signing Xherdan Shaqiri from Inter Milan last summer.
Hughes said: "Talks have been progressing. Hopefully by the end of the day we'll be able to announce something."
Belgian-born Imbula has impressed since arriving at Porto in a £15m deal from Marseille in July and Hughes is looking forward to working with the player.
"He's a good young player with good power, good ability on the ball, a good range of passing and will add to the quality we already have.
"Seeing him first hand [when Stoke played Porto in a friendly in Germany last summer] resonated with me when it was mooted he may be available in this window.
"We tried to speak to the right people, it's not something we've just jumped into in the last month."
Meanwhile, Stoke have rejected an approach from Marseille to take winger Peter Odemwingie on loan for the remainder of the season.
The French club made an offer late on Sunday night which Stoke turned down. The-34 year-old has rarely featured under Mark Hughes this season since the arrival of Shaqiri and Ibrahim Afellay.
