Xherdan Shaqiri confirms plans to leave Stoke for a Premier League club

Share

Tweet

Share

Share

Email

Comments

Stoke City’s star winger Xherdan Shaqiri reveals that he will leave the Potters this summer for another Premier League club.

The 26-year-old was unable to prevent Stoke losing their place in the Premier League as they were relegated after 10 seasons in the top flight.

The club finished the campaign in 19^th and were the first team to have their Premier League relegation confirmed this season.

Shaqiri was one of the clubs marquee signings when he joined the club in the summer of 2015 but despite enjoying his best goal-scoring season since joining with eight strikes, the Swiss was powerless to prevent the club from dropping into the Championship.

Fans were aware that the player would discuss his future once the season finished though he had previously stated he was happy at the Potters.

However with relegation now confirmed it appears that the Swiss international will be looking to move during the summer with a Premier League club his preferred destination.

He told Aargauer Zeitung: “It is no secret that I will leave the club.

“I think the [Premier] league is perfect for me.

“I would love to stay in England but I don’t want to rule anything out. It’s the best league with the best players.”

Prior to his transfer to Stoke, the Basel youth product had spells in both Germany with Bayern Munich and in Italy with Inter Milan.

He scored 17 times in 81 appearances for the German champions but moved on after finding first-team opportunities limited.

His time in Italy was also a frustrating one and after just one goal in 15 Serie A appearances, he was sold to Stoke City who paid the Italian side a then club record fee of £12m for his services.

He has played 84 Premier League matches for the Potters scoring 15 times, eight of those have come during this campaign – his best ever tally.

He now heads to the World Cup with Switzerland who kick off their tournament on June 17 against Brazil.