Stoke City enter race for wantaway striker
Published:
Stoke City have entered the race to sign wantaway West Brom striker Saido Berahino and hope to have jumped ahead of long-time admirers Tottenham in the queue.
Potters boss Mark Hughes believes the addition of a striker of Berahino’s ilk would elevate his club to the next level and with Spurs baulking at the £15m asking price he feels a deal is there to be struck.
Berahino’s relationship with his current club continues to falter after the player said he would never turn out for the Baggies again when refused a move to Spurs in the summer.
He has since returned to the starting line-up and continues to be a threat in front of goal but manager Tony Pulis is said to have grown tired of the Englishman’s timekeeping and could finally be ready to sell.
However, it could be a case of one in, one out at the Britannia with contract negotiations with Marko Arnautovic grinding to a halt.
The Austrian has been in fine form this season, scoring a brace in a 2-0 win over Manchester City, but with the player and the club said to be some way from an agreement over his £100k-per-week wage demands and rumoured interest from Fenerbahce the 26-year-old’s Premier League career could soon be cut short.
Stoke are currently just five points off a top six place and can be backed at 12/1 to finish among the European places and the signing of Berahino could be the difference.
Next up for the Potters is a home tie against Norwich for which the hosts are priced as the even-money favourites.
The Canaries can be backed at 3/1 to claim all three points, while the draw is on at 11/5 but with news of the Berahino interest in the air it could pay to back the Potters’ current crop of attackers to fire on all cylinders.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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