Stoke City hoping new six-year deal for Ryan Shawcross will ward off Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur
Shawcross is in advanced talks over a lucrative long-term deal that will ensure he sees out the peak years of his career at the Britannia Stadium, with manager Tony Pulis hopeful of ending the uncertainty over his future in the next few weeks.
Stoke have stepped up negotiations after Shawcross was called up into Roy Hodgson's England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Poland last month and further talks are expected within the next fortnight. The 25 year-old has just over 18 months left on his current contract but Pulis is keen for Stoke to agree a deal as a number of Premier League clubs are believed to be monitoring the defender's situation.
United sold Shawcross to Stoke for an initial £1 million in 2008 but still have a buy-back option which allows them first refusal if any rival clubs make a bid. Sir Alex Ferguson has made no secret of the fact that he regretted selling the former Old Trafford trainee and could move to bring him back in the summer, with doubts over the long-term fitness of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.
Shawcross joined United as a 15 year-old and made only two appearances in the League Cup but Ferguson is known to have been keeping a close eye on his progress. In his programme notes before United's game against Stoke last month, he wrote: "I was delighted to see him called up for the England squad because he is a quality player I have wished – particularly of late – was still at Old Trafford.
"The problem was that at the time of his release we had an especially strong group of young centre-halves and it was becoming impossible to give them all games at the level their progress warranted. We had Jonny Evans, Gerard Piqué, Ryan Shawcross, Craig Cathcart, and Paul McShane, and something had to give. We made the right decision keeping Jonny Evans but I'm not so sure about letting Shawcross join Stoke."
Spurs have also been interested over the last two seasons and current manager Andre Villas-Boas would have targeted Shawcross this summer if he had managed to offload Michael Dawson to Queens Park Rangers before the centre-half rejected the move and opted to stay at White Hart Lane.
Stoke are aware they are playing a dangerous game with time running out on the club captain's contract and the deal on the table is designed to keep him at the Potteries into his 30s.
Shawcross is waiting to discover if he will be included in Hodgson's squad for the friendly against Sweden in Stockholm next Wednesday. He was an unused substitute in the recent World Cup qualifiers and is keen to become the first Stoke player to be capped by England since Mark Chamberlain in October 1984.
Pulis said: "The call-up was great for the kid and great for the football club. He was desperate to play but Roy can only pick 11. Unfortunately it was not Ryan’s turn but we hope he will get that chance in the future. We hope he will play well in the league games and get that opportunity to get that cap he’s desperate to get.
"Every year he’s improved. He’s 25 now and I still think it’s two or three years until he hits his peak form. He’s a fit lad and we have not seen the best out of him yet."
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