Crouch became Stoke's record signing on Wednesday when he completed his switch from White Hart Lane to the Britannia Stadium, with Tottenham receiving an initial £10m fee with the rest of the money dependent on appearances.Sunderland were also keen in the England striker's services but Crouch revealed that it was Woodgate who persuaded him to choose the Potters, with his close friend having been hugely impressed by Stoke boss Tony Pulis and the set-up at the club since joining them in the summer.
Crouch said: "Woody was on the phone every hour trying to persuade me to come here."He only had great things to say about the club and that was a major factor in me coming here. He spoke in glowing terms about the club and the manager."I'm looking forward to linking up with him again and a number of other players who have been teammates at other clubs including Wilson (Palacios) of course."The future is bright for Stoke.
There are a lot of good players here, it has been a stable Premier League club for a few years now, it has excellent backing from the chairman and it's top class supporters, so it's a great time to be part of the club.""As you can see from the other signings which have been made recently, the club is really moving in the right direction and looking to do big things now.""The Champions League was a fantastic experience last season, and hopefully I can bring some of that experience to this club in the Europa League.""There are some big games coming up in the next few weeks, so I am really excited by this new challenge in my career and am looking forward to it."
Source: DSG
