Mark Hughes admits he feared Joe Allen might have been lining up for Swansea on Monday night rather than Stoke.
Hughes was worried Allen might let his heart rule his head when Stoke were battling Swansea to sign him in the summer.
Swansea made the early running in the race to sign Allen from Liverpool and Hughes was concerned he would want to return to his former club because he is from South Wales.
But Allen opted for Stoke once Liverpool accepted their 13million offer and Hughes feels he was impressed when he faced the Potters in last season’s Capital One Cup semi-finals.
“We were in the mix with, I think Swansea were flagged up as one of the main ones,” said the Stoke boss.
“They came out clearly and said they were interested in taking Joe back. We were a little bit worried about that emotional tie that he might have had with his previous club because he had a great time there.
“But I sensed very quickly once we had the opportunity to speak to Joe that his motivation was to get back to playing week in, week out and he had seen us first hand in terms of an opposition team.
“We had impressed him, certainly in the League Cup semi-final, which was one of the few games he played under Jurgen Klopp initially, although he came back into his thinking towards the end of the season.
“He saw how well we played at Anfield when we beat them - although we went out of the competition on penalties - and he saw the quality of the players we had.
“When we had the conversation and we made it known that we would love him to come and be part of what we were doing, he remembered that night and could see how he could fit in.”
Hughes could not be more pleased with Allen and his compatriot is Stoke’s top scorer with four in his nine Premier League games.
“We’ve been delighted with what he’s produced,” said Hughes. “He’s not only a technically gifted and very talented player, he’s added goals.
“That’s a bonus because we didn’t anticipate that, and his demeanour and his personality have added to the group as well.
“We feel very fortunate that he decided we were the right option for him. Sometimes with transfers, you’re the right club at the right time for the right player and I think that’s what happened with Joe.
“He could have maybe taken an easier option to go back to Swansea because it’s an area you know and a club he knows, but he took a leap of faith with us and I think he’s benefited from that decision - and so are we.”