Stoke City announced on Aug. 11th that they have signed Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones of Trinidad and Tobago for a team-record fee of £8 million. The 25-year-old Jones, who scored nine goals last season, was linked with a few clubs, but ended up signing a four-year contract with Stoke at the Britannia Stadium after he passed his medical a few hours earlier.

The fee for Jones eclipses the former team record of £6million that was paid to Middlesbrough last season for defender Robert Huth. Stoke manager Tony Pulis knows what Jones can provide as he took him on in 2005 on a loan spell. He said he was delighted to have Jones in his squad.

He said Jones is unstoppable some days and the club needs a reliable source for more goals and Jones fits that bill. He sees Jones as bringing more competition to the striker position at the club and that’s what’s needed if the team is going to improve.

Pulis harked back to the days that Jones spent with him while on loan and added that he thinks the big striker’s best days are still ahead of him as he starts to mature and learn the game better. While nine goals in a 38-game season don’t really seem to be much, Jones was hampered by injuries last season.

The player stated he’s looking forward to a new chapter in his football career with Stoke and will definitely give it a 100 per cent every time he’s on the pitch.

While it didn’t really seem like a good move by Sunderland manager Steve Bruce, as his team often struggles for goals, he made it up a little bit by getting Manchester United’s Danny Welbeck on loan for the season and now has eight million pounds to buy another player or two.