City have completed the loan signing of Newcastle United star Shola Ameobi until the end of the season.

The 26-year-old will link up with the Potters tomorrow ahead of Saturday's crucial Championship clash against Sheffield Wednesday.

Born in Nigeria, Shola joined the Magpies Academy as a 13-year old in 1995, before making his senior debut against Chelsea five years later.

His electric pace and power led to a call up in to the England Under 21 squad that season, and he went on to prove an immediate success, scoring two goals in five games.

After a promising start to the 2001/02 campaign, where he bagged a brace in an Intertoto Cup clash against Sporting Lokeren, Shola suffered a serious knee injury which ruled him out until the summer.

However, he did recover in time to feature in the Under 21 finals in Switzerland.

In the 2002/03 campaign he again showed his potential by scoring a well taken goal and putting in an exceptional performance against Barcelona in the Champions League at the Nou Camp.

That was followed up by another superb European performance in Germany, where he bagged a clinical brace against Bayern Leverkusen.

The next year saw him enjoy his most fruitful campaign after grabbing himself seven goals to finish second in United's scoring charts.

A brace against fierce rivals Sunderland in October 2005 set him on his way to his best season to date, where he scored nine Premier League goals.

He also made his 200^th appearance for the club against Charlton on 26th March.

Shola was forced to undergo a hip operation towards in the middle of last season, before returning against Reading in April 2007.

This season, first team opportunities have been hard to come by following Kevin Keegan's arrival and he will be hoping to get his career back on track at the Britannia Stadium.