Inter Milan have accepted a £12 million bid from Premier League side Stoke City for the transfer of versatile midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri, according to Sky Italia (via Sky Sports).

However, the highly rated Swiss international is yet to agree to terms with the club.

Continue for updates.

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Inter Accept Stoke City’s £12m Offer for Shaqiri

Wednesday, July 1

“Inter has an agreement with Stoke City for the transfer of Xherdan Shaqiri. Player still hasn’t agreed,” tweeted B/R UK’s Matteo Bonetti, who cites Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio.

Football Italia also cites Di Marzio and suggests “the deal now hinges on whether Shaqiri will accept the move to England, which may prove a stumbling block, as he’s made it clear he wants to stay at San Siro.”

The 23-year-old joined Inter from Bayern Munich in January, but he struggled to hold down a first-team spot under Roberto Mancini. Shaqiri scored one and assisted two during eight starts and seven substitute appearances, per WhoScored.com.

Despite being a leader for the Swiss national team—scoring three at last summer’s World Cup—he is yet to reach his potential in club football. Simon Jones of the Daily Mail believes Everton are also interested in acquiring the player’s services, while Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool have been linked in recent times.

He remains one of the continent’s top talents, so many will ask the question as to how Stoke can be in the reckoning for his signature. The answer stems from the Premier League recently securing a £5.136 billion television rights deal after selling coverage to Sky Sports and BT Sport, per BBC Sport.

The distribution of cash will allow Premier League clubs outside the elite spend to handsomely this summer, as already highlighted by Dimitri Payet’s £10.7 million move from Marseille to West Ham, reported by the Independent‘s Tom Sheen.

Newly promoted Bournemouth recently spent £8 million on Ipswich Town defender Tyone Mings in another example of added wealth in the division, per Stuart James of the Guardian.

Stoke were gutsy in last summer’s transfer market and managed to lure ex-Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic to the Stadium of Light. Shaqiri would be another example of manager Mark Hughes trying to progress the club away from the overbearing physical style employed by former boss Tony Pulis.

The player’s arrival at any Premier League club would mark one of the coups of the summer. Stoke finished ninth last season, and if they’re going to progress, they need to make acquisitions of Shaqiri’s quality.  

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