Stoke City have handed injured midfielder Stephen Ireland a six-month contract to allow him to prove his fitness.
Ireland missed the entirety of the last Premier League season after breaking his leg during training in May 2016.
The 30-year-old was out of contract at Stoke but the club have opted to give him a short-term deal as he continues his recovery.
"Stephen has been forced to put his career on hold after suffering a very serious injury in training through no fault of his own," said Stoke's chief executive Tony Scholes.
"He's working incredibly hard to get himself back to full fitness and we felt that it was only right to offer him a short-term contract to give him peace of mind while he continues with that process.
"Stephen is grateful for the support we have shown him and we look forward to hopefully seeing him pull on a Stoke City shirt again in the near future."
‘He instantly popped into our ratings as one of the best U21 midfielders in Europe. The impressive thing is Slot has made him into more of a no.6' Inside Ryan Gravenberch's transformation at Liverpool
‘I don’t think Liverpool would look at Ollie Watkins, a striker isn’t a pressing issue for them – it’s Arsenal who need one’ Former Reds star explains why his old club don’t need an out-and-out forward this summer
