Imbula agreed a five-and-a-half year contract with Mark Hughes’ side and the deal was sealed less than half an hour before the official close of the transfer window.

The signing surpasses Stoke’s previous record of €12 million, which they paid to lure Xherdan Shaqiri from Inter Milan last year.

“Giannelli is a good young player. He has great power, good ability on the ball and a great range of passing and there’s no doubt he will add to the quality that we already have at the club,” Hughes told Stoke’s website.

“He played against us in pre-season and although I was already aware of him, seeing him at first hand resonated with me.”

Born to Congolese parents in Belgium, Imbula launched his career with French side Guingamp in 2009 and four years later joined Marseille, where he got his first taste of Champions League action.

The 23-year-old has represented France at Under-21 and Under-20 levels, but has since expressed his desire to play for Belgium although he is yet to make his senior international debut.

Everton have sealed a €13.5 million ($19.4 million) deal to sign Senegal striker Oumar Niasse from Lokomotiv Moscow, the Premier League club confirmed on Monday.

Niasse agreed a four-and-a-half-year contract after completing a medical at Everton’s Finch Farm training base.

The 25-year-old was the Russian Premier League’s player of the year in 2015 and scored 13 goals in 23 appearances for Lokomotiv this season.