It appears that a new addition to the Premier League would like to purchase a couple of Rafa’s men as Stoke City look to cement their place in the top tier.

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Stoke City have made a joint £7m offer for Jermaine Pennant and Sami Hyypia, although the former’s reluctance to move there is proving a major obstacle to that deal. Pennant is also a target for the Blackburn manager Paul Ince, although they have offered only £3.5m for the winger and Liverpool are holding out for at least £5m. (Guardian)

Stoke City fans must have been mighty worried as they headed into the break with a 3-0 deficit at the Reebok on the opening day of the season, but things looked a darn sight better when they secured a last-gasp win over Aston Villa on Saturday and proved some doubters wrong in the process.

Now Tony Pulis is after this Anfield pair, and you can see why he might make just such a move. However it does seem unlikely that either deal will bear fruit. It appears that Hyypia is still very much part of Benitez’s Liverpool plans and, although Pennant isn’t, I would imagine that the former Arsenal man wouldn’t consider a move to the Britannia Stadium if he can get a deal with Blackburn instead. Either way I feel that the three teams that have come up have all done pretty well so far and maybe they won’t all be heading for a swift return to the Championship.

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