Friday 25 November 2016 10:32, UK
Mark Hughes expects Wilfried Bony to remain at Stoke for the rest of the season despite reportedly having a release clause in his Manchester City contract.
Ivory Coast international Bony, 27, joined the Potters on a season-long loan deal on deadline day, but the Daily Telegraph has reported the striker could be offloaded by City in January due to a clause which allows him to be sold to Chinese Super League clubs.
Hughes admits this is a possibility, although he expects Bony, who has scored two goals in 10 appearances for Stoke this season, to remain in the Premier League.
When asked about the existence of the clause at his press conference ahead of Stoke's trip to Watford on Nissan Super Sunday, Hughes said: "I think that may well be true, but a lot of things have to come to the fore to make that happen, not least that Wilf will want to go himself, and I don't think he will do.
"I think he very much sees himself as a Premier League player this year and in the years to follow. Any thoughts of moving to other shores would be dependent on whether or not he had a desire to do that.
"Clearly, if his club thought it was a good deal they would try and influence that but I don't anticipate that happening, certainly not in January.
"There seems to be significant sums of money being bandied about [in China], but I don't think Wilf is short of a few quid, to be perfectly honest, and I think he's more focused on continuing his career in the Premier League with us.
"So unless he comes and knocks on my door and says he's had an offer....I'd be very surprised."
Hughes also confirmed that there was no stipulation where Stoke have agreed to pay a set fee for Bony during, or at the end of, his temporary stay.
"We're not thinking on those terms at the moment," the Welshman added.
"We're delighted that he's here until the end of the season in our view and we'll look at it again. It's not something that's in the contract, we haven't got a price that's been agreed, sometimes you can do that but that's clearly not what Man City wanted."
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