Wales international midfielder Joe Allen completed a £13million move from Liverpool to Stoke on Tuesday. The 26-year-old produced some impressive displays for his national side as the Dragons reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016.
Allen joined the club from Merseyside in 2012 from Swansea for a fee of around £15million. The midfielder has never really nailed down a regular starting spot at Anfield. For much of his career at Liverpool Reds have questioned what he brings to the team.
However, Allen is often underrated, as he is not a player who is eye-catching, but earlier in his career he was compared to Barcelona metronome Xavi and Italian great Andrea Pirlo. The comparisons did not help the Welsh midfielder, as fans expected far more from the former Swansea star.
Allen is not a player that will take on a whole host of opposition player and find the top corner. What the midfielder does do is keep everything tidy in midfield and helps a team tick over. At Liverpool maybe too much was expected.
His pass completion record at Swansea was one of the highest in the Premier League. His impressive first Premier League campaign convinced Liverpool to sign the midfielder.
Everybody connected with Stoke will be hoping that he can replicate the form he produced at Swansea and for Wales at Euro 2016.
The Potters are ambition and will be confident of building on successive ninth place finishes in the Premier League. Allen may not be seen as a marquee signing, but on his day he can be a very good player. Maybe out of the limelight of Liverpool he can excel and help the Potters progress in the near future.