Giannelli Imbula has joined Toulouse on loan for the rest of the season

Stoke midfielder Giannelli Imbula has joined Toulouse on loan until the end of the season.

The 24-year-old signed from Porto on a five-and-half-year contract for a club record £18.3m at the beginning of the year and was seen as a replacement for Steven N'Zonzi who had joined Sevilla six months earlier.

He scored in only his second game for Stoke in the 3-1 win against Bournemouth in February last year but the former France U21 player failed to make the impact Mark Hughes had hoped for and he fell down the pecking order when Darren Fletcher arrived on a free transfer from West Brom.

He made only 14 appearances for Stoke last season and it was reported that Hughes wanted to off load him in the summer.

Ligue 1 champions Monaco along with Galatasaray, Nice and Torino had all shown interest in the player but he settled for Toulouse and passed a medical in southern France on Deadline Day.