Shawcross signs record contract

Stoke City have tied down club captain Ryan Shawcross to a record 6 year contract.

The deal is rumoured to be around £45,000 a week, which is the longest and most expensive contract in the Potters` 150 year club history.
Stoke manager Tony Pulis told the Sentinel: ‘Ryan has been immense for us. I took him from Manchester United’s third team and I remember him scoring on his debut at Cardiff – and he’s improved ever since.

‘Ryan has done brilliantly for us, but the club has also done brilliantly for him as well.

‘We are more than happy to give Ryan that length of contract. He is loved to death by everyone here and he’s such a big softy at times because he’s such a big family man.’

The move to keep the England international at the Britannia Stadium for up to a decade is seen as a bold one by the club`s hierarchy.

Pulis holds Shawcross in the highest esteem and with growing rumours that the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham and Liverpool have been weighing up a move for the Chester born central defender; Chairman Peter Coates has funded the move to keep the 25-year-old in Staffordshire.

Shawcross, who has made over 200 appearances for the club since his arrival from Manchester United in 2007 for £2 million after an initial loan deal told the The Sentinel: ‘I am very happy here and very settled here.

‘I have loved my five years here so far and I want that to continue. We have progressed incredibly from when I first came.

‘The people here have looked after me really well, the fans have been brilliant with me and I want to be a part of the future.’

Goal scoring hero Charlie Adam is extremely happy that his captain has agreed the new deal. He told The Sentinel: ‘When you’ve got quality like that, you need to keep it in your group and the manager has always stressed he’s one of our best players.
‘This is a good club going forward and Ryan wants to be part of that. He’s been here for a number of years.

‘He’s seen it from what it was to what it is now and he knows it’s progressing. It’s good to have people like that at the club.’