Metz sign Stoke defender Wollscheid

Metz have signed defender Philipp Wollscheid from Stoke City on a three-year contract.

The Ligue 1 club completed the signing of the 28-year-old late on Wednesday and he will replace Simon Falette, who moved to Eintracht Frankfurt earlier in the transfer window.

Wollscheid joined Stoke from Mainz, initially on loan in January 2015, before making his move permanent later that year.

The centre-back played 31 Premier League games as recently as the 2015-16 season, but spent last year on at Wolfsburg and has now left for Metz on a permanent basis.

He was below new Stoke signings Kevin Wimmer, Bruno Martins Indi and Kurt Zouma in the pecking order at the bet365 Stadium, as well as captain Ryan Shawcross.

Metz finished 14th in last season's French top flight, but have had a miserable start to the new season – losing all four of their matches to sit bottom.