Premier League: Stoke City sign Bruno Martins Indi from FC Porto for €7.7 million

Stoke-on-Trent: Stoke City have signed defender Bruno Martins Indi from Porto for €7.7 million ($9 million) on a five-year contract, the Premier League club confirmed on Friday. The 25-year-old Netherlands international has returned to Stoke after making 35 league appearances during a successful loan spell with the club last season. “We are delighted to have secured a deal to bring Bruno to the club in a permanent transfer and I know that Bruno feels the same,” Stoke’s chief executive, Tony Scholes, told the club’s website. [caption id=“attachment_3920471” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Bruno Martins Indi signs a five-year contract with Stoke City. Twitter/@stokecity[/caption] “Bruno loved being with us last season and made no secret of his desire to move here permanently when his loan spell came to an end. We’ve had to be patient in our dealings with Porto but we’re really pleased with the outcome.” Manager Mark Hughes had told a news conference earlier on Friday that the deal was imminent, but said the player was unlikely to feature in Stoke’s first league game of the season at Everton on Saturday. Hughes also said the club had turned down an enquiry from Joe Allen’s former side Swansea City for the midfielder. “They just asked would we be willing to allow him to leave and we said no,” he added. “I think we have to respect that they came and they did that and because of the answer they got you’d like to think they will respect our position.” Stoke have lost several experienced players in the current transfer window, including midfielder Glenn Whelan, forward Marko Arnautovic and defender Phil Bardsley. Hughes has recruited Darren Fletcher, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Kurt Zouma on loan from Chelsea. “We are still looking to bring in more players to freshen up the squad,” said Hughes. “I’m aware we’ve lost a bit of experience in the dressing room but we’ve still got good players here who can step up to leadership roles.”