Since relegation from the Premier League in 2018, Stoke City have found life in the Championship to be more difficult than expected.

Many people thought the Potters would coast to promotion during the 2018/19 season, but they struggled badly, and nearly six years on, the club are battling to remain in the division.

Despite being backed by the wealthy Coates family, Stoke have been unable to mount any semblance of a promotion push since relegation from the Premier League, and they have shown that spending large sums of money on player wages doesn't always equate to success.

With that in mind, using Capology, we looked at Stoke City's highest earning player over the past 8 seasons.

Wilfried Bony is Stoke's estimated highest earner over the past 8 seasons

It must be stressed that Capology uses estimates rather than being 100% accurate, but it still gives us a good insight into player wages.

According to Capology, Wilfried Bony's weekly wage of £100,000 makes him Stoke's highest paid player over the last 8 years.

Bony joined the Potters on loan from Manchester City for the 2016-17 season, so it remains to be seen how the wages were split, but regardless of how much Stoke contributed, they certainly didn't get value for money.

The Ivorian striker's move to the Bet365 Stadium came with high expectations after a spell at Swansea City which saw him become one of the best strikers in English football.

His time at The Etihad had seen him used sparingly, but that was understandable given the quality and their disposal and there was still excitement at Stoke when his signing was announced.

However, Bony's time at the Potters proved an absolute disaster for a number of reasons.

In total, Bony made just 11 appearances for the club, scoring just two goals, which both came in the same game against former club Swansea as the Potters recorded a 3-1 win.

He started just nine games for the club, and didn't feature in a matchday squad for the club from February onwards after falling out favour under manager Mark Hughes.

This meant that despite being paid an estimated £100,000 a week, Bony wasn't even involved in a single squad from February onwards.

The striker's one season at Stoke will always be remembered as an absolute disaster and a complete waste of money.

Wilfried Bony's career since leaving Stoke City

Bony has enjoyed what you'd call a nomadic career since leaving the Potters.

It began with a permanent move back to Swansea, but the player struggled with injuries and was unable to find the form he'd shown during his first spell in South Wales.

A loan move to Qatari side Al-Arabi followed in January 2019, before he was released by the Swans.

Bony then signed for Saudi Premier League club Al-Ittihad in 2020, before leaving the club later that year.

He was then without a club for over a year, often training with League Two side Newport County, as he was still living in Swansea and looked to remain fit.

He did find a new club in January 2022, signing for Dutch club NEC Nijmegen, but he played just once thanks to injury - a common theme of his later career.

He continued to train with Newport County and even scored the winning goal in a development match in December 2022 against Swindon Town, before earning a deal with Bolivian club Always Ready.

Bony left Always Ready later that year and is currently a free agent again.

It's a fair cry from the days of earning £100,000 a week at Stoke, and at 35, it remains to be seen if he'll lace his boots up again.