Stoke City have confirmed their signing of former Town skipper Jon Walters on a four-year deal and have revealed that the fee is £2.75 million rising to £3.25 million on appearances. The Potters were initially linked with a move for the 26-year-old two years ago.

Stoke boss Tony Pulis said: "I have been looking to bring more goals to the squad and Jon certainly fits that bill.

"He has been one of the outstanding performers in the Championship over the past three years and I am confident the lad can make the same sort of impact in the Premier League now that he has been given this opportunity.

"The fact that he is versatile will increase competition for places in the squad which is something we have been looking to achieve."

Walters says he is delighted to make the switch: "It's always good to know that a manager has that faith in your ability and that was certainly an influence on my decision to come here.

"I am excited about moving here and it is the fulfilment of a long term goal of mine to get back into the Premier League.

"I had a sniff of it in my time at Bolton, but I knew that in dropping down the leagues, it would take a lot of hard work to get back there one day.

"I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Ipswich, especially being the captain of the club, but this was the opportunity I had been working towards and I'm glad it's come at a club like Stoke."

Town chief executive Simon Clegg paid tribute to Walters's time at Portman Road: “I would like to thank Jon for the hard work, commitment and professionalism he has shown on the pitch during his career at Portman Road.

“Recognising that every player’s dream is to play in the Premier League we are delighted that Jon has achieved this goal and we wish him every success at his new club.

“I am sure our supporters will see that this is very good business for the club, one of the most significant transfer deals in the club’s history, and will join us in sending their best wishes to Jon for his future career.”

On Friday, QPR made a bid for Walters but the former Republic of Ireland B international, who comes from Birkenhead, has long been understood to want a move back to the north.

Photo: Action Images

Town_Boy added 16:16 - Aug 18 "I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Ipswich, especially being the captain of the club, but this was the opportunity I had been working towards and I'm glad it's come at a club like Stoke." Fair enough..
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Fixed_It added 16:16 - Aug 18 Best deal since Titus left us. Well done Cleggy - now spend it wisely (and preferably swiftly!).
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danny1981 added 16:16 - Aug 18 Wonder if we have to give Chester a Percentage of this fee???
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BobbyPetta added 16:17 - Aug 18 if he brings goals to stokes team ill streak through the middle of ipswich town centre....
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gloucester_tractor added 16:17 - Aug 18 well another out and more wages to use. Price we will never know , lets hope we can use the income wisely and move forward for the rest of the season. Norris will lead from the front so thats all covered , so who will be the wide man on the right who can come in with 10 goals a season.
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ChrisBeeston added 16:17 - Aug 18 Glad it's gone through. Now lets get a quality striker, support striker, midfielder (need cover for Leadbitter/Norris) and right back - especially the strikers. Hopefully all will be sorted by 31st August. At least we're light years ahead of where we were this time last year! COYB!
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tom_the_blue added 16:18 - Aug 18 Ha ha, £3M? Is that a joke? He isn't even worth 1m! And considering he wanted out, and Keane said he would never play for us again. WHAT A DEAL!!!
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bluehook added 16:18 - Aug 18 That was well engineered Walters. Now, stay fit and get us some more money with appearances. Goodbye
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bedsitfc added 16:18 - Aug 18 i'm soooo happpppy. i used to like walters but as soon as he said "i want out of ipswich" i couldn't wait for the news of him being sold.
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Smithy added 16:18 - Aug 18 Cracking deal for a very average player who'll sit on the bench each week at Stoke, spend it wisely Keano.
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EarshamBlue added 16:19 - Aug 18 Worked hard but turned out to have a rubbish attitude! Bring in a STRIKER SOON!!! Good bit of business and good profit made!
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woollyhattedliberal added 16:19 - Aug 18 are Stoke still trying to unload Beattie?
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dej2210 added 16:19 - Aug 18 Good luck jon. You done us proud. No hard feelings, hope you forfill your potential. Please replace him. poss McCormack.
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WubbleU added 16:21 - Aug 18 Can't see us having to pay Chester any money as they were wound up last year. As the new Chester are a totally new club I think they will have trouble getting any cash from us even if there was a sell on clause.
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JayITFC added 16:21 - Aug 18 Now go and get Chopra...
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StowTractorBoy added 16:22 - Aug 18 An excellent piece of business by ITFC and although it ended in bitterness towards our Club for Walters he did do us proud on many occasions and you could never fault his workrate. I think however the best of Walters has been seen as he looks so laboured after half an hour these days - the West Ham friendly being a telling example. Was disapppointed with his reaction about ITFC at the end and whatever Keano did or said there was no need to bad mouth the Club after all we rescued him from obscurity.

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budgie_beater added 16:22 - Aug 18 hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahah :L :L we ripped them off sooooooo badly...whoever funds that club can't have been a very good businessman because that is one huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge rip off. he is not worth 2 mill let alone 3 :L
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Karlosfandangal added 16:22 - Aug 18 Good luck to the lad and some great business for the club. ME wanted a lower wage bill which he has now got, and so far we have made more money in selling than we have buying, so lets hope these promiced players now start to turn up
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fourpee added 16:24 - Aug 18 goodluck john!! thanks for your service...
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nysully added 16:24 - Aug 18 He will fit in well at Stoke though for their squad he will be considered small, whatever has happenned in the past few weeks lets not forget what he has done for us the past few seasons, he never let us down in fairness.
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flyingdutchman added 16:25 - Aug 18 watch your lockers
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4-4-2 added 16:25 - Aug 18 hopefully this will be the money we need to secure someone like chopra, and then get mcormack on loan as i hear that he is now available.
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EarshamBlue added 16:26 - Aug 18 Still not convinced we will see these 'promised' players. Same old Ipswich... Rumours but nothing materialises!!! What about Lambert from Southampton?
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Liverpool_blu added 16:27 - Aug 18 Good Luck jon Boy
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robdaful added 16:29 - Aug 18 Lets bring some new players in. We have off loaded Walters. More wages free. Scotland, Fryatt, McCormack, Chopra, DJ Campbell or anyone else that can score. I'd even be happy with David Nugent even tho he snubbed us before.
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