Filed under: Birmingham, Manchester City, Manchester United, Stoke City, West Ham, Premier League, Football, Transfer News
Tony Pulis has climbed Kilimanjaro and run countless marathons and the Stoke manager displays similar levels of endurance with his targets in the transfer market.Just like the Mounties, Pulis invariably gets his man and his relentless pursuit of Carlton Cole is set to finally pay off after years of valiant attempts.
Cole has been on Stoke's radar ever since their promotion to the Premier League and is expected to jump ship following West Ham's relegation to join the Potters this week for a deal that could eventually see them pay £6 million.
Subject to a stringent medical, Stoke will pay an initial £4.5 million, with a further £1.5 million on appearances, and Cole is expected to fly out and join Pulis and his new team-mates at their pre-season training camp in Austria in the next few days.
The England striker will sign a four-year deal and the prospect of a forward line including Cole, record signing Kenwyne Jones, the criminally under-rated Jon Walters and the enigma that is Ricardo Fuller will have Pulis licking his lips.
Cole's muscular, direct approach is just what Pulis wants from his strikers and his latest recruit will have the proven Premier League experience he has been targeting.
The deal also represents admirable patience from Stoke, who had been quoted figures as high as £9 million earlier in the summer when their first tentative approaches were made.
The 27-year-old will be part of Stoke's Europa League campaign that starts later this month and Thomas Sorensen, who played with Cole for a season at former club Aston Villa, believes his signing will be a shrewd piece of business.
He said: "He is a much improved player. He was fairly young when I played with him at Villa. He was a little bit indisciplined and needed a lot of work. But he has definitely improved.
"The role he has had at West Ham has given him a lot of responsibility and you can see he has grown.
"He has been involved with the England team and, whenever we have played him, he has been a handful with his physical presence.
"He has also capped every season with quite a few goals. If he came to Stoke, I think he would be a great signing for us."
Pulis will step up his bid to land Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson and Birmingham defender Scott Dann this week.
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