Stoke City are closing in on deals for Jack Butland and Brek Shea, but Asmir Begovic will not be leaving the Britannia Stadium.
Birmingham City goalkeeper Butland, who is regarded as one of the best prospects in England, opened talks with Stoke last night after snubbing a switch to Chelsea, and manager Tony Pulis is thought to be confident of fending off interest from Fulham to secure the deal.
Stoke moved ahead in the race after promising the youngster that he will be loaned out for regular first-team football – something both Chelsea and Fulham refused to offer.
Pulis is also set to attend a work permit hearing today for American wing-back Shea, who has passed a trial at the club and is on the cusp of securing a transfer from FC Dallas.
Elsewhere, stopper Begovic, linked with Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea, has confirmed he will be staying a Stoke player this month.
'As far as I know [I am staying at Stoke] yes,'
'I don't see anything happening now. I think that time's passed. I'm just concentrating on what I need to do here.'
But while Begovic is staying put, striker Crouch is edging closer to a £5million switch to QPR, with talks said to be at an advanced stage.
If that one goes through, Stoke will hang on to Kenwyne Jones, who is a known target for Norwich and had been subject of a £3million bid from Swansea earlier this month.
Click here for the latest transfer news and gossip
~Metro » Football | Metro UK~
No comments:
Post a Comment