Stoke stunned by O'Connor decision

Stoke’s director of football John Rudge has called West Brom’s £250,000 (€355,360) capture of former Ireland U21 international James O’Connor “daylight robbery”.

An FA transfer tribunal ordered the Baggies to pay City £125,000 (€177,680) immediately on Monday, with the remaining amount paid in instalments over the next six months.

However, Rudge is fuming that West Brom have snapped up the Dubliner for just a quarter of the original £1m (€1.42m) price tag Stoke slapped on him.

“The price they have got for him is daylight robbery, there is no other way to describe it,” said Rudge.

“Albion have taken advantage of the chance to get James on the cheap because he was out of contract. There is no way the fee for James is a fair reflection of his value.

“It’s a smack in the face for us because he was a player we invested in for eight years bringing him through our youth team and into the senior side.”