Stoke still hopeful of Shaqiri deal

Stoke City assistant manager Mark Bowen has said the club remain hopeful
of signing Xherdan Shaqiri, but admitted "there is a limit to how long we
can wait".
Shaqiri appears surplus to requirements at Inter, who have reportedly
accepted a £12million bid from Stoke.
The Premier League side declared an interest in Shaqiri prior to his move
to Inter from Bayern Munich in January - and have not given up on
persuading the Swiss international his future lies at the Britannia Stadium.
Bowen is quoted as telling The Sentinel: "We are still waiting. There is a
limit to how long we can wait, but we are hopeful and still waiting, it's as
simple as that.
"We know the qualities he's got and maybe in January we got excited for a
few days thinking we could bring that kind of player to Stoke. It didn't
happen then, but maybe it will happen now.
"The lad left Basel, went to Munich, and two-and-a-half years later he
leaves there to go to Inter. Now it's only six months later. Maybe he's
thinking whether he wants to move again or put down roots and stay in one
place.
"That will be at the back of his mind, so you have to give a player like him
the time.
"You can push, push, push, but there is a balance between doing that and
giving him the time to make the right decision for himself. They have to
want to sign."
Inter coach Roberto Mancini conceded last week that Shaqiri and Davide
Santon were likely to leave the club.
"Shaqiri is a fantastic player but we have some problems with the squad
list," said Mancini.
"We have 25 players and we need to sell some but I think they are two
good players for [the] English championship."