Source: FOOTYMAD
2 years ago today: Duo joins Potters
'Boro duo join in record deal National media are reporting that the deal has been completed to bring Robert Huth and Tuncay Sanli to Stoke City for a fee of £11m, a club record, both player equalling the £5.5m paid for Dave Kitson. Huth, 25, has been linked with the Potters for the past few weeks, and the move quickly ran through these last 24 hours. Whether Huth comes straight into the side though is another matter as manager Tony Pulis has to toy with the idea of either changing formation so that he sends out a five man defence containing Abdoulaye Faye, Ryan Shawcross and Huth or whether one, most probably Huth, starts on the bench. The other option would be to stay with a 4-4-2 formation but pushing club captain and man mountain Abdoulaye Faye into the defensive midfield role, a role given mainly to Faye's fellow Senegalese natives Salif Diao and Amdy Faye last season. Huth has signed a 4-year-deal and the German international will be hoping to put his recent relegation nightmare behind him with a new start at the Britannia Stadium. After starting his career at Chelsea, and becoming a regular German youth international, he moved to the Riverside where he was a regular when fit and after playing the majority of games last season, also being named club captain.Huth's arrival may see the departure of another centre back and whilst Ryan Shawcross has been linked with numerous high profile clubs lately, fans will be hoping they can hold onto one of the prize assets at the club and it is one of the back up centre backs, if any, that move out with Ibrahima Sonko seemingly bottom of the food chain at present. The giant stopper leaves Middlesbrough with the best wishes of the 'Boro faithful, many of which are 'gutted' to see him leave. Turkish international Tuncay Sanli, a key member of the 'Boro side has been linked with moves away from The Riverside Stadoium all summer and the Potters were the first club to put their money where their mouth is and put up a firm offer. The nippy striker has been linked with Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa during the course of the summer. The fee is reported to be around £7m and the Potters will be happy to have got the deal done before Saturdays clash with Sunderland, to help clear up a striker shortage. Both players have been at the Britannia Stadium all day and become the second and third major signings and two names that will show why the Potters management wanted to wait for the right deals before commiting to transfers.
