Tony Pulis is willing to offload James Beattie after allowing the striker to open discussions with Rangers.
Potters boss to let striker leave, while stepping up Kovac hunt
Tony Pulis is willing to offload James Beattie after allowing the striker to open discussions with Rangers.
A day after completing a club record £8million move for Kenwyne Jones, the Stoke boss is now preparing to offload a frontman.
Beattie, who suffered a falling-out with Pulis last year, is the man heading to the exits after being deemed surplus to requirements.
He is now in talks with SPL giants Rangers regarding a possible move to Ibrox, with Gers boss Walter Smith announcing on Thursday that terms are currently being ironed out.
Pulis accepts that the former England international looks to be on his way out of the Britannia Stadium, and has played down any suggestion that a loan agreement could be in the offing.
"James is up talking to Rangers, so I don't know how that is going on at the moment," he said.
"If it goes through it will be a permanent deal."
Experience
Pulis has also confirmed that he remains in the hunt for West Ham midfielder Radoslav Kovac.
The Potters have turned their attention to the Czech Republic international after failing to persuade Salif Diao to pen a contract extension with the club.
"We're still trying to do something with Salif, and if we can, we will," said Pulis.
"But by the sounds of things he wants to keep things in play, which I can understand.
"So we're a midfielder short of what we want in the squad, which is why I'm looking at Kovac, and it's now down to West Ham. The ball is in their court. It's up to them to decide whether they want to do a deal or not.
"There's been a bit of too-ing and fro-ing. One minute it's yes, the next they're not sure, so we will leave it to them.
"But the fella has a lot of experience. He is a good player, a very good footballer - being at West Ham tells you that. He can control games, so if it comes off he will be a good signing for us."
