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Lewis Holtby continues to not play for Tottenham Hotspur, and since he's not playing, clubs who don't have the same attacking midfield depth as Tottenham continue to be linked to him. We've heard about a potential Schalke move all January, but a new name has popped up: Stoke City.
Apparently Mark Hughes is keen on adding Holtby, which isn't surprising. He has his team playing something between Pulisball and actual football and seems to be working to transition Stoke into something a bit more attractive than they're known for. He wants players more technical than the ones he has, but ones who are still willing to work defensively. Holtby fits the bill.
But, unfortunately for Hughes, this probably won't happen. Here's the key line in that Mail piece.
Much depends on their asking price with manager Mark Hughes unable to take any more Premier League loans.
Yep, Stoke is at the inter-league loan limit, so they can only get Holtby if they buy him outright. While Spurs seem pretty willing to sell, they're not going to sell at a bargain basement price. It's tough to see Stoke willing to shell out £8-10m for a midfielder in this window.
