Stoke City have accepted a £7m bid from Spanish outfit Sevilla for midfielder Steven N’Zonzi.
The Europa League winners had offered as little as £3m for the French midfielder, who has 12 months left to run on his current contract, but have now agreed to meet Stoke’s valuation.
"N’Zonzi is an interesting player. We consider him very favourably and we're working on it," said Sevilla’s president José Castro on Tuesday.
"Now it must be left to the sporting director to make it happen. We’ll make a great team ready for an exciting season."
The 26-year-old was voted Stoke's player of the season last term and has been one of the Potters' best players since joining from Blackburn Rovers in 2012 and his absence in the middle of the park will be felt.
The French midfielder has been an everpresent in the Stoke starting XI over the last three years. In fact, only two outfield players have played more minutes in the Premier League than N'Zonzi (9,524) since arriving from Blackburn.
Furthermore, only one midfielder who attempted 100+ aerial duels had a better success rate than N’Zonzi last season (67.5%) and of players to have made more than 15 appearances in England’s top flight, no Potter had a higher pass completion than N’Zonzi (85%). The Frenchman also completed 1,826 passes in the 2014/15 Premier Legaue campaign; 697 more than any other Stoke teammate.
For more stats on Steven N'Zonzi, click here to view his WhoScored player page
