Stoke City never saw what Aston Villa did of ex-Valencia star - It's a real shame for the Potters | OneFootball

John Carew struggled to make an impact on loan with the Potters in 2011

Norwegian striker John Carew built a reputation as a prolific centre-forward throughout Europe during his spells with Valencia, Besiktas and Aston Villa, but many may not know that he spent time on loan at Stoke City in 2011, as he failed to produce his best goalscoring form in the Potteries.

Carew was a highly-rated striker in his native Norway as a youngster, emerging out of Valerenga's academy to then join one of the country's biggest clubs in Rosenborg in 1999. He sealed a £5.75 million move to Valencia a year later, and went on to help them win one La Liga title in 2002.

The burly, six-foot-five-inch frontman then spent time with Roma, Besiktas and Lyon prior to a 2007 switch to Aston Villa, after he had previously failed a medical at Fulham. Carew became a cult-hero at the Second City club, but began to fall out of favour as time went on and new strikers joined.

He chose to make the move to the Potters, then managed by Tony Pulis, on loan in January 2011, and despite being hopeful of a revival in North Staffordshire, he struggled to ever adapt to Pulis' tactics and was never fully fit in his few months at the club.

John Carew never made an impact at Stoke despite impressive previous Villa form

Carew had netted double figures for goals in each of his previous three Premier League campaigns at Villa from 2007 to 2010, but he had fallen out of favour with then-boss Gerard Houllier, who was forced to deny rumours of any rift between the pair as the Norwegian slid down the pecking order following Darren Bent's arrival.

He was made available for loan in the January window midway through the 2010/11 season, and Stoke won the race for his signature towards the end of the month, with Carew himself stating that he "had other offers," but saw the Potters as the "strongest team" that he could have joined.

The then-31-year-old also expressed a desire to potentially make his loan move a permanent deal in the summer window, providing that his spell at the Britannia Stadium was fruitful, but while he showed glimpses of the quality that saw him score 24 goals in 91 caps for his country, he was clearly past his best and coming to the end of his time at the top level.

Carew made his Potters debut just a day after signing, in a 2-0 loss to Fulham, but it did not take him too long to get on the scoresheet for his new club, as he netted the opener against Sunderland in early February, while also providing an assist for Robert Huth to make it 2-2 as Stoke went on to win the game late on.

That was about as good as it got for Carew in red and white, however, as Pulis' side failed to win any of their next four league outings with him as a starter, while scoring just one goal as a team in that same period.

He did notch his second strike for the club in the FA Cup though, with a header from a trademark Rory Delap long-throw to score the opener against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Carew was soon ruled out of action for over a month with a back injury, and Stoke coped pretty well in his absence with comprehensive 4-0 and 3-0 wins against Newcastle United and Wolves respectively. It was clear that he was not having the desired effect in the final third compared to the likes of Kenwyne Jones, Jon Walters and Ricardo Fuller.

The Norwegian striker did return to action in April, and despite his status as a failed loanee at Stoke, he actually took to the field in one of the club's biggest games in their history a month later.

The Potters faced off against Manchester City in the FA Cup final, and with Pulis' squad hit by injury, Carew was substituted on at 1-0 down with 10 minutes left as a last throw of the dice by the boss. Much like the rest of his time at the club, he struggled to make any impact, and Stoke were beaten to the trophy by Roberto Mancini's side through Yaya Toure's strike.

Carew finished his half-season at Stoke with two goals from 13 appearances for the club. He certainly could have been worse, but Potters supporters will have expected more from a player who had torn up the English top-flight in the numerous years prior to his time in ST4.

Carew was nearing the end of his career at Stoke - he retired just two years later

Carew had not really impressed during his time at Stoke, and despite being released from his Villa contract in the summer of 2011, Pulis and the Potters decided against signing him on a permanent deal as they looked for fresh pace and guile in attack to improve on their 13th-placed Premier League finish.

The centre-forward instead dropped to the Championship with newly-relegated West Ham, and even though he was a high-profile signing for Sam Allardyce's side, his chances in the starting eleven were limited and he netted just two goals in 21 appearances for the Irons in his sole campaign at the club.

Carew failed to feature in any play-off games as West Ham won promotion back to the Premier League at Wembley that year, and he was unsurprisingly released by the club that summer after not being offered a new deal.

He soon held talks with former club Valerenga about a potential return after 13 years away, but reportedly demanded a wage that well exceeded their financial reach. Carew was also handed a surprise opportunity to go on trial at Inter Milan in 2013, but the Italian giants decided against a move due to concerns over his fitness.

The Norwegian international announced his retirement from the game in October 2013, and while he is well remembered for his impressive spells with the likes of Valencia and Villa, Stoke supporters will unfortunately only have memories of him being slightly past his best in his short stay at the club.