Xherdan Shaqiri explains why he chose to join Stoke

We've seen a number of hard-to-explain transfers over the last year or so, but Xherdan Shaqiri's move to Stoke was one of the more baffling.

The Swiss international, who won the Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2013, moved to the Potteries from Inter for a club record £12m over the summer. And the winger, the first World Cup hat-trick scorer to move to the Premier League, has now explained a decision which may have seemed confusing at first. "I wanted to be a little quieter. I didn’t want to be always at the front every day (in the spotlight)," Shaqiri told the Daily Telegraph. "I can concentrate on my football and getting to the level I want to be at," the 24-year-old added. “I hope (to do that) soon. I need to keep playing a lot of games to come back to that level, but I hope it will happen soon." Shaqiri is yet to score in 12 appearances for Stoke, whose next Premier League game is away at Sunderland.