Stoke City showed their intent with £12m Spurs signing and got their rewards: View | OneFootball

Stoke's signing of Peter Crouch turned out to be an inspired one

Stoke City made waves by deciding to sign Peter Crouch from Tottenham Hotspur at the start of the 2011/12 Premier League campaign, and it turned out to be inspired business.

Tony Pulis' side were embarking on their fourth season in the top-flight, having finished the previous campaign in 13th position while booking their place in European competition for the first time ever after making it all the way to the 2011 FA Cup final, where they were narrowly defeated by Manchester City.

It all meant that Stoke had begun to cement themselves as a Premier League staple. They were able to take calculated risks in the transfer market and had a certain degree of pulling power, which they used to lure Crouch to the Potteries on transfer deadline day back in the summer of 2011.

Stoke City's signing of Peter Crouch from Spurs

Stoke made something of a splash at the time by making Crouch their club record signing in a £12 million deal from Tottenham Hotspur.

Crouch, who was 30 when he signed for Stoke, had already enjoyed a remarkable career, scoring 22 goals for England from just 42 caps and proving himself among the most potent and memorable strikers at Premier League level with the likes of Liverpool and Portsmouth.

It was an impressive capture there and then, make no mistake about it.

Crouch was lauded upon completing his move to the Bet 365 Stadium, with Stoke's chief executive Tony Scholes labeling the signing as a statement of intent. "These fantastic deals are a statement of this football club's intent," said Scholes.

"The club has made incredible strides forward over the past five years and to attract players of this calibre shows our ambitions as we look to continue that progress this season and beyond that."

Meanwhile, Pulis added: "There has been a real buzz of excitement around the city about where this club is going since we reached the FA Cup final and then started our Europa League adventure.

"These signings certainly add to that great sense of anticipation.

"Peter has an excellent goalscoring record at the highest level. His goals-per-games ratio for England is remarkable and he scored seven goals in 10 Champions League games for Tottenham last season, which gives you an idea of his pedigree."

Peter Crouch's Stoke City career

Crouch proved an instant hit at Stoke, hitting double digits for league goals and scoring on 14 occasions across all competitions throughout his first season with the club.

His debut campaign in the Potteries set the tone for the remainder of his career there. Crouch went on to lead the line for a number of years and proved a constant threat to opposition defenders with his aerial prowess and link-up play.

Although the towering striker never scored 10 or more Premier League goals in a single season again, he compensated for the steady decline in his output in front of goal by offering an outball and a new dimension to Stoke's attack.

He even joined the Premier League's illustrious '100 club' in February 2017. The then-36-year-old netted in a 1-1 draw at home to Everton to become the oldest player to score 100 goals in the Premier League, while emerging as only the 26th player to hit that milestone at the time.

The evergreen striker continued to flourish deep into his thirties and it was a blow for Stoke when he finally moved on at the ripe old age of 38 to join Burnley in a swap deal involving Sam Vokes in January 2019.

Crouch, who left Stoke after scoring 61 goals and making 22 assists from 261 games across an eight-year period, only spent a matter of months at Turf Moor before deciding to hang up his boots once and for all.

He departed the professional game with broad adoration, having cemented himself as a popular figure among supporters wherever he went. That was particularly true of his time at Stoke, where he encapsulated the club's identity and helped them to become one of the most memorable mid-table sides of the Premier League era.