Official | Steven Nzonzi returns to Stoke City | OneFootball

A decade after leaving the club, Steven Nzonzi (36) has officially returned to one of his old stomping grounds in England. On Friday, the 2018 World Cup champion with France officially signed a one-year contract at Stoke City, a club he’d previously featured at for three seasons.

In his previous stint there, Stoke were in the Premier League, but this time around, the defensive midfielder will hope to play a part in them getting promoted from the EFL Championship. While featuring in Serie A at AS Roma, the Potters were relegated from the Premier League in 2017-18 and have not returned since then.

Nzonzi, who has collected 20 caps for Les Bleus, is coming off a spell in the Turkish Süper Lig with Konyaspor last season. His finest moment in a French shirt came in the 2018 World Cup final against Croatia, replacing N’Golo Kanté (34) after 55 minutes, and playing a part in France preserving that victory.

After leaving Stoke City years ago, the midfielder born in Le Garenne-Colombes played three seasons in Spain for Sevilla, winning the UEFA Europa League crown with them in 2015-16. He also made stops at Galatasaray, Stade Rennais and Al-Rayyan. He’s made 39 Ligue 1 appearances in his career, all at Rennes, while he played 37 times for Amiens in Ligue 2. He also had a spell in the Premier League at Blackburn Rovers before moving to Stoke.

Stoke have been hovering near the bottom of the Championship table for a few seasons now, finishing two points above the relegation line in the previous campaign. Nzonzi and Stoke begin the season on Saturday when they welcome Derby County.

GFFN | Joel Lefevre