Leon Britton believes Stoke have bagged a bargain in Joe Allen

Leon Britton (left) was a team-mate of Joe Allen's at Swansea as the Wales international notched up 150 appearances for the Welsh club

Leon Britton insists 'bargain' Joe Allen is a vastly better player than when the pair were Swansea teammates.

Britton and Allen will meet again when the Swans face Stoke in the Premier League on Monday, 31 October.

Allen has scored in three of his his last four league games and veteran Britton said it is no surprise to those who watched his development.

"He seems to have settled in very well. Stoke have got themselves a bargain in Joe," said 34-year-old Britton.

"He's scored a lot of goals for Stoke, but it's no surprise to the people who know him. He has added that to his game.

"He's developed a lot. Obviously he went to a big club in Liverpool after leaving here at quite a young age. He dealt with that very well. He's improved since he left here that's for sure.

"He's got a lot more international caps for Wales, he played in some big games when he was at Liverpool. He's improved, but we knew when he was a 16-year-old, training with the first-team, that he was going to be a big talent."

Allen departed the Swans in August 2012 to follow then-boss Brendan Rodgers to Liverpool in a £15m transfer.

The 26-year-old found first-team football hard to come by on Merseyside, let alone goals.

Allen's tally of four Premier League goals in nine appearances at Stoke is the same number he managed for Liverpool in 91 top-flight outings.

Potters boss Mark Hughes signed Allen, who also scored recently for Wales in their World Cup qualifier in Austria, in a £13m deal in the summer.

Britton, who apart from a short spell at Sheffield United has been at Swansea for almost 14 years, admitted he was surprised Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp let Allen go.

"I'm surprised a little bit in terms of that towards the end of his time at Liverpool he seemed to be playing very well," said Britton.

"But the manager there could not offer him regular first-team football and maybe Joe had had enough of that and wanted to play regularly in the Premier League.

"You can't blame him for that, he's a player of immense quality and he deserves to be playing every week."

Allen will face his former teammates on Monday as Britton and his teammates head to Stoke looking for a much-needed first win for new boss Bob Bradley.

Britton said it would be nice to see Allen once more, but he said he hoped he would be having the bragging rights after the final whistle.

"It will be good to see him again and play up against him," added Britton.

"I'm sure we will have a bit of banter, before and during, but hopefully we will come away the winner and I can give him a bit of stick."

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