Source: Team_Talk
Pulis still pushing for new signings
Stoke boss Tony Pulis has confirmed he wants to sign "four or five" new players this month despite the quietest pre-season he can remember.[LNB] Stoke are yet to complete a major signing ahead of the new season, so far bringing in only Portsmouth youngster Florent Cuvelier to play for the Academy and out-of-contract goalkeeper Carlo Nash as cover for Thomas Sorensen and Asmir Begovic.[LNB]Pulis has been armed with a bumper transfer kitty by chairman Peter Coates [LNB]but the Welshman admits he has struggled to spend this summer as clubs wait for a "snowball effect".[LNB]"This close season is the quietest and most difficult I've known for trying to get deals done," he told Sky Sports' Goals on Sunday.[LNB]"Everybody's waiting for deals to happen and then you get that snowball effect and the market gets moving."[LNB]Pulis last week held talks with highly-rated Nice forward Loic Remy and has also been tracking West Ham's Carlton Cole for much of the summer, and the Potters boss has confirmed he ideally wants to sign two strikers.[LNB]"We're desperately looking for a couple of strikers but we've got four or five players we've been working hard on all summer," he said. [LNB]"We need to bring them in because there are players that will leave the football club. On a positive note there is money there for us to spend, it's just making sure we get in the right players to take us that step further."[LNB]Pulis was careful not to comment on his pursuit of Cole but he did confirm flying to France last week in a bid to win the race for Remy.[LNB]"We went over to France to watch him play," he said.[LNB]"He's a very good player, a very talented young player who's just got selected for the French squad as well but whether we do the deal is another thing.[LNB]"It's not just Stoke that are interested in him, I think there's three or four other clubs that are interested in him and the deal (offered to Nice) will obviously be one of the major factors. [LNB]"They know they've got a top player on their hands and they're not going to let him go cheap.[LNB]"I actually went out (to France) with (assistant manager) Dave Kemp and spoke to the kiddie. His English was fantastic and he's a lovely kid.[LNB]"He wanted to come over and look at the football club, which we've done, but there's a lot more stuff to take place before we sign him."[LNB]Remy was seen being shown around the club's new state-of-the-art training facilities on Thursday and Pulis admits that alone is a sign of the progress Stoke have made in recent seasons.[LNB]He added: "When we got in to the Premier League we had a three-year plan - we were desperate to stay in the Premier League for three years because we were so far behind other clubs. [LNB]"The training ground wasn't in the right and correct manner but in two weeks' time the new build will be open and we can take players down to the training ground.[LNB]"I've been taking them everywhere but the training ground for the last couple of years, but the new build is fantastic. It takes time and we've invested not just on the pitch but off it as well. [LNB]"We thought it would take three years for us to be able to say this is a Premier League football club but to do that you've got to stay in the Premier League and this year will be as difficult as the last two seasons. [LNB]"What we need is to keep that togetherness from the boardroom down to the management to the players to the supporters because our supporters have been absolutely fantastic and that has got to stay next year as well."
