Pieters joins the club for £3m.
New Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has made his and the club’s first signing of the season by snapping up PSV Eindhoven full-back Erik Pieters for £3m.
Hughes had prioritised left-back as the area of the Potters squad that needed to be improved the most, with only Marc Wilson recognised in that position currently.
Pieters is a Dutch international defender and represents something of a coup for Hughes as he bids to make his mark on the Stoke team.
The 49-year-old had been keeping tabs on the left-back for some time and thinks Pieters is a great utility player for the club.
“While Erik is predominantly a left-back, he has also played for his country as a central defender, so he gives us other options,” the Welshman was quoted on BBC Sport.
The Dutchman has been capped 17 times for the Netherlands during a seven-year long career in the Eredivise with both PSV and boyhood club FC Utrecht.
Hughes meanwhile is starting the long process of improving the Stoke squad after taking over from Tony Pulis at the end of May, with his predecessor having spent seven years at the Britannia Stadium.
Pulis guided the Potters to the Premier League in 2007 and kept them out of the relegation zone for five straight seasons – yet having spent over £60m in the past three years on new players, chairman Peter Coates felt Stoke were underachieving.
Hughes joins with a wealth of top flight experience, having managed Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Fulham and the Wales national team, although his reputation had been at a low point having been sacked by previous club QPR at the end of 2012.
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