Potters splash the cash for Crouch
Stoke have spent a club record £10m to bring in England striker Peter Crouch from Tottenham.
Crouch has signed a four-year deal with the Potters after struggling for first-team opportunities at Spurs of late, and the 6ft 7in forward completed a busy day for Tony Pulis’ team on transfer deadline day, with Wilson Palacios and Cameron Jerome also signing from Spurs and Birmingham respectively.
The Crouch deal could even rise to £12m dependent on the fulfilment of various clauses, and he insisted Stoke defender Jonathan Woodgate – a team-mate of his at Spurs last season – was key to convincing him to move north.
“Woody was on the phone every hour trying to persuade me to come here,” Crouch told the club’s official website www.stokecityfc.com.
“I’m looking forward to linking up with him again and a number of other players who have been team-mates at other clubs including Wilson of course.
“The future is bright for Stoke,” he added. “The manager has worked extremely hard to get me here. He has got a hell of a lot of faith and belief in me, so hopefully I can repay that faith.”
City’s chief executive Tony Scholes said after completing the signings of Crouch, Jerome and Palacios: “These fantastic deals are a statement of this football club’s intent.
“The club has made incredible strides forward over the past five years and to attract players of this calibre shows our ambitions as we look to continue that progress this season and beyond that.”
Pulis added: “There has been a real buzz of excitement around the city about where this club is going since we reached the FA Cup final and then started our Europa League adventure. These signings certainly add to that great sense of anticipation.
“We now have good options in midfield and up front with these captures add to the experienced additions we also made at the back by bringing in two England defenders Jonathan Woodgate and Matthew Upson earlier in the transfer window.
“Peter has an excellent goalscoring record at the highest level. His goals-per-games ratio for England is remarkable and he scored seven goals in 10 Champions League games for Tottenham last season which gives you an idea of his pedigree.”
Pulis believes he has signed a striker of “outstanding potential” in Jerome.
The 25-year-old Jerome joined from Birmingham on a four-year deal while Honduran international Palacios also signed a four-year contract after moving up from White Hart Lane.
Pulis said: “Cameron is a player of outstanding potential and I am sure his explosive pace will make him a big favourite with our supporters. I know that our defenders have always found him to be a real handful.
“We have been looking to increase our attacking options in this window and he will certainly provide strong competition for places in that department.”
