Stoke City manager Mark Hughes is hopeful of announcing the signature of Giannelli Imbula from FC Porto at some point today.
The Potters are said to be paying a club record fee of £18m to the Portuguese giants for the signature of the former Marseille midfielder and the club are confident of sealing the deal on deadline day.
Imbula joined Porto from Marseille for around £15m last summer, but has struggled to settle down in Portugal and has played just ten times in the league this season.
Hughes confirmed that the club have made significant progress towards making sure that the Frenchman becomes a Stoke City player by the time the window slams shut tonight and is hopeful of making an announcement soon.
He also added that the 23-year-old will be arriving in England shortly to get the deal over the line and is sure that the midfielder will only increase the quality of their squad going forward.
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The Stoke boss was quoted as saying by the BBC: "We're hopeful. It’s progressed significantly quicker this morning.
“Last night it seemed to be a bit difficult. We hope that at some point in the day we’ll be able to announce a big signing.
"He's a good young player, good range of passing – someone who will come in and add to the quality we've got. It's not something we’ve jumped into in the last minute.
"There's been a lot of work done in the last month. You never say never, but he's travelling as we speak and we hope to get it concluded sometime today."
Imbula is a former French Under-21 international and will be hoping to revive his career at the Britannia Stadium should he successfully complete the move to England.
