Premier League: Stoke City sign Greek full-back Kostas Stafylidis from Bundesliga club Augsburg

London: Greek international full-back Kostas Stafylidis became Paul Lambert’s first signing since taking over as manager of Premier League strugglers Stoke City, taking him on loan from Bundesliga outfit Augsburg. Lambert, who played in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund and won the Champions League with them, will hope the 24-year-old defender adds much-needed solidity to a defence that has the worse defensive record in the league, having conceded 50 goals this term. [caption id=“attachment_4310023” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Kostas Stafylidis fell out of favour with Bundesliga club Augsburg before signing the deal with Stoke City. Reuters[/caption] “Having played in Germany himself, Paul Lambert is a keen observer of the Bundesliga and I know he has been impressed by what he has seen of Kostas in action for Augsburg,” Stoke’s chief executive Tony Scholes told the club website. “We have moved quickly to add to our defensive resources by bringing him to the club and we’re delighted to have secured his services until the end of the season.” Stafylidis — who has fallen out of favour at Augsburg — has experience of English football having played for second tier Fulham in the 2014/15 campaign. He is the second full-back Stoke have signed during the January transfer window, right-back Moritz Bauer having joined before Lambert filled the vacancy left after the sacking of Mark Hughes on a permanent deal from Russian side Rubin Kazan.