Stoke To Soon Have More Champions League Winners Than Any Premier League Club
The days of peak Stoke-alona have somewhat faded. Bojan Krkic isn't the star he was before a surprising loan to Germany last season, Marc Muniesa has left on loan this season, while Ibrahim Afellay has endured an injury ravaged 16 months.
Yet with the surprising expected arrival of former Real Madrid forward Jese Rodriguez from Paris Saint-Germain at the bet365 Stadium very shortly, Stoke will have more of something than every other Premier League club.
An intriguing observation that is currently being made online and on social media is that Jese will soon become the fifth player in the Potters' squad to have won the Champions League at some point during his career.
Jese was a member of Real's Undecima squad in 2015/16. He was an unused substitute in the final against city rivals Atletico, but did play as many as nine times in the earlier rounds.
The aforementioned Bojan, who is now back at Stoke, won the Champions League twice as a Barcelona player in 2008/09 and 2010/11, playing 13 times in the competition and scoring three goals across both triumphant European campaigns.
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Afellay was also part of the 2010/11 Barça side.
Xherdan Shaqiri's first season at Bayern Munich saw him collect a Champions League winners' medal as part of a treble with Bundesliga and DFB Pokal honours.
Summer signing Darren Fletcher of course won the Champions League with Manchester United back in 2008. He was famously suspended for a second final the following season and was an unused substitute when United reached the final again two years later in 2011.
Adding Jese to the mix makes five players who have won club football's single greatest prize.
There are currently fewer players with Champions League winning experience in the squads at Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal. It is partly because no English side has claimed the trophy since 2012 and it has been dominated by Spanish teams, but even so it remain a solid fact that is just a little bit mind blowing.
Premier League Clubs With Champions League Winners in Current Squad:
Club | Champions League Winners |
Stoke | 5 - Bojan Krkic (Barcelona), Ibrahim Afellay (Barcelona), Xherdan Shaqiri (Bayern Munich), Darren Fletcher (Man Utd), Jese Rodriguez* (Real Madrid) |
Chelsea | 4 - David Luiz (Chelsea), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona), Alvaro Morata (Real Madrid) |
Man City | 3 - Yaya Toure (Barcelona), Claudio Bravo (Barcelona), Danilo (Real Madrid) |
Man Utd | 2- Michael Carrick (Man Utd), Juan Mata (Chelsea) |
Everton | 2 - Wayne Rooney (Man Utd), Sandro Ramirez (Barcelona) |
Southampton | 2 - Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Oriol Romeu (Chelsea) |
Arsenal | 1 - Petr Cech (Chelsea) |
Liverpool | Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea) |
West Ham | 1 - Marko Arnautovic (Inter Milan) |
*not yet official
