Source: Daily_Mail
Sensational Stoke swoop for £11m Middlesbrough pair Tuncay Sanli and Robert Huth
Middlesbrough pair Tuncay and Robert Huth are in talks over a joint £11million switch to Stoke City.
Stoke boss Tony Pulis has swooped for Turkey captain Tuncay after his £5m move to Birmingham City fell through.
Huth did attract interest from Aston Villa and Everton, but only Stoke have matched Middlesbrough's £6m valuation.
Boro boss Gareth Southgate this afternoon confirmed he has accepted the double bid for the pair and they are both due to meet Pulis at the Britannia Stadium today and discuss personal terms.
Southgate said: `The two clubs have agreed a fee. Robert Huth is in talks at the moment and with Tuncay we have also accepted a bid and he is in talks.'
Both players are on more than £50,000-a-week and want top flight football, but their high wages have put off the majority of clubs in Europe.
But ambitious Pulis has a large budget after securing a second Barclays Premier League season and he is determined to add experience to his squad.
He must now match the two Boro players' demands, and satisfy their ambitions at such an unfashionable club whose playing style will hardly match Sanli's silky skills.
The Turkey international was due to join Birmingham next week, but the Midlands club were forced to shelve their bid after falling foul of Stock Market rules.
Carson Yeung, the Blues owner-in-waiting, contacted the club to say he was prepared to stump up the cash for the deal but then it became apparent that Stock Market regulations in Hong Kong prevented such a course of action.
The loss of two influential players will be a blow to Middlesbrough's promotion hopes following relegation to the Coca-Cola Championship last season.
Huth and partner David Wheater helped them to four clean sheets in the league while Tuncay scored three from the bench in three games. But their exit will ease the burden on the club's wage bill.
Selling German international Huth leaves Southgate short of a centre-back for Saturday's trip to Bristol City but youngsters Seb Hines or Jonathan Grounds can partner David Wheater, who will be not leaving the club during the transfer window.
Southgate expects club captain Emanuel Pogatetz and former Derby defender Chris Riggott to be fit within a fortnight and believes he does not need extra cover.
However, he does need at least one more striker and Danny Webber, Jermain Beckford, Rob Hulse and Rob Earnshaw have all been linked with the club.
