Ham, Aston Villa and Hull City. Stoke proceeded to end the season strongly with wins over Newcastle, Fulham and a 2–1 win against West Brom on the final day of the season, which saw Stoke finish in ninth position, their best finish since 1974–75. 2014–15 For the 2014–15 season, Hughes signed Sunderland full-back Phil Bardsley, Fulham midfielder Steve Sidwell and Senegalese striker Mame Biram Diouf on free transfers. Also arriving for small fees were Slovakian defender Dionatan Teixeira and Barcelona forward Bojan, while wingers Victor Moses and Oussama Assaidi joined on season-long loans. Departing were Matthew Etherington, Michael Kightly, Cameron Jerome and Ryan Shotton. Stoke had a mixed start to the 2014–15 season, losing 1–0 to Aston Villa on the opening day, drawing 1–1 with ten-men Hull City, yet defeating reigning Premier League champions Manchester City 1–0. Stoke's inconsistency continued through the autumn as Stoke managed just three wins beating Newcastle, Swansea and Tottenham. The club then suffered frustrating home defeats against newly promoted Burnley and Leicester City. Stoke found form in December beating Arsenal 3–2, Everton 1–0 and West Brom 2–0. In January 2015, Hughes began talks with the Stoke board of directors about extending his contract with the club. Hughes's only new arrival in January was that of German centre back Philipp Wollscheid from Bayer Leverkusen. Stoke suffered a number in injuries to key players in January and February, most notably to Shawcross and Bojan. In February, Stoke suffered back to back 4–1 defeats against Manchester City and then in the FA Cup against Blackburn. Hughes signed a new contract with Stoke in March 2015 to keep him contracted until the summer of 2019. City then went a run of three wins against Aston Villa, Hull and Everton and then three defeats against West Brom, Crystal Palace and Chelsea. Stoke ended the season strongly with victories over Southampton (2–1), Tottenham (3–0) and Liverpool (6–1), ensuring a second consecutive ninth-place finish. 2015–16 Hughes made a number of alterations to his squad in preparation for the 2015–16 campaign. Leaving the club were the long-serving trio of Asmir Begović, Robert Huth and Steven Nzonzi, with Stoke receiving their record transfer fee in the process. With the money available, Hughes broke Stoke's transfer record by paying Inter Milan £12 million for Swiss winger Xherdan Shaqiri. Hughes also brought in Spanish striker Joselu for £5.75 million, Dutch midfielder Ibrahim Afellay, Shay Given, Jakob