Steven Nzonzi: Stoke City sell midfielder to Sevilla for £7m

Steven Nzonzi moved to Blackburn from French club Amiens in 2009

Stoke City midfielder Steven Nzonzi has joined La Liga side Sevilla in a deal worth a club record £7m.

Frenchman Nzonzi, 26, joined Stoke from Blackburn for £3m in 2012 and made 120 appearances for the club.

Potters boss Mark Hughes said the Spanish club and Europa League winners had reluctantly been granted permission to speak to Nzonzi.

A Stoke statement said: "The club would like to place on record its thanks to Steven and offer him our best wishes."

Nzonzi has signed a four-year contract with the Spanish club, which includes a 30m euro (£21.5m) buyout clause.

Stoke's previous record sale was the £4.5m they received for striker Tuncay from Wolfsburg in 2011.

Sevilla finished fifth in La Liga last season before defeating Dnipro in the Europa League final in May.

Nzonzi had a transfer request rejected by the Potters two years ago, and Hughes did not want to sell him this summer.

"We worked really hard to persuade him his future lay here but it didn't seem to be enough for him," added Hughes.

Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who has been linked with a move to Chelsea, is in the Potters squad for a pre-season tournament in Singapore next week.

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