Stoke City accept £7m bid from Sevilla for Steven N’Zonzi

Stoke City have accepted a £7m bid from Sevilla for Steven N’Zonzi, the French midfielder who was named the Premier League club’s player of the year for last season. Sevilla had initially offered as little as £3m for N’Zonzi but the Europa League winners eventually agreed to meet Stoke’s valuation for a player who had less than 12 months remaining on his contract.

Leicester had also expressed an interest in signing N’Zonzi but the 26-year-old made it clear that it was his desire to play Champions League football next season, and Sevilla tick that box.

N’Zonzi will leave a considerable hole to fill in the centre of Stoke’s midfield after making a big impression since his transfer from Blackburn Rovers in 2012, but the Midlands club knew that they were powerless to keep him once he had stated his wish to move on.

José Castro, Sevilla’s president, said on Tuesday that a deal for N’Zonzi was close. “N’Zonzi is an interesting player. We consider him very favourably and we’re working on it. Now it must be left to the sporting director to make it happen. We’ll make a great team ready for an exciting season.”