Potters August rumour mill

Stoke City appear to have turned down Sunderland’s latest bid for captain, Danny Higginbotham. The offer, reported to be £2.4m plus the return of Graham Kavanagh to the Brit, is still not enough and Tony Pulis is not particularly excited at the prospect of the former Stoke midfielder being part of the deal.

Whether this is enough to make Roy Keane give up the chase and look elsewhere is yet to be seen, but it’s good news that Peter Coates is not yet being tempted by the chance to make a big profit on the defender who was only signed from Southampton a year ago.

More good news is that Salif Diao is reported to be close to agreeing a permanent contract with the Potters. His agent told the Sentinel: ‘As far as I am concerned, Stoke are definitely the front-runners and, I think, very close. Salif is thinking about the offer and we fully expect there to be a positive answer.

Adding, ‘Stoke have made a fair offer, it is just a question of him making his mind up. It is a big move for him and he wants to make sure it is right in every respect.’

Whilst the transfer window closes in just over a week, Diao is a free agent so is able to sign after that date, but everyone will be hoping that he is available as soon as possible.