French midfielder Gianelli Imbula arrived at Stoke last year as the club's record signing from Porto.
The 24-year-old has disappointed during his 17 months in the Premier League and has been linked with several moves away from the club, most notably to Monaco.
On Newstalk's Off The Ball last night, Shay Given provided a little bit of insight into why Imbula's time at Stoke has been such a letdown.
Pulling no punches, the former Ireland international - who left Stoke during the summer after two years at the club - said that work ethic from Imbula had been severely lacking.
Last year I was at Stoke and the transfer record was Imbula for £18m. He's come in from Porto and he's literally not tried a leg since he's been there.
That's a record signing for Stoke and Stoke's not a massive club financially.
Given made the comments during a discussion with Kevin Kilbane, Niall Quinn and Jason McAteer about how tough it is to judge a player's character before making a decision whether or not to sign them.
How do you scout that (heart and desire)? He might look well at Porto. He might have a great past, he might have been great on the ball, done this, done that.
He might have done this, done that, but he comes to a different country and doesn't even learn how to say `good morning' to the rest of the team.
Doesn't want to learn the language, I mean, and doesn't really want to play at Stoke.
You can watch Given speaking on Off The Ball below.
Picture credit: Sportsfile
