Potters confirm Kitson swoop
18 Jul 2008 - 17:18:35
Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has paid a club record transfer fee of £5.5million to land Reading striker Dave Kitson on a three-year contract.
The 28-year-old ex-Cambridge United forward scored 60 goals in 147 first-team appearances for the Royals and his arrival at the Britannia Stadium excites Pulis.
The Potters boss told the club's official website: "I think he's a natural goalscorer with great ability, while he's one that will work his socks off for the team.
"I've seen a lot of him over the years and been impressed with his attitude from afar, particularly his ability to adapt to the challenge of moving into higher divisions throughout his career at Cambridge and Reading.
"His Premier League experience over the past two seasons with Reading is also an important asset for us because we need players who've been there. I don't believe the size of any fee will trouble him. He'll take all that in his stride."
Kitson added: "I'm delighted to be here and I'm very excited about the challenge. I'm 28 and I need to be in the Premier League.
"I've worked hard to get here with both Cambridge and Reading, so when the opportunity arose I wanted to get the deal done.
"I came down, had a look around the club, and I knew this was where I wanted to be. I know the Stoke supporters are footballing people. I've played here a few times and it was always an intimidating place to come.
"The fans are fantastic. I know the area has been starved of top-flight football recently, but we're there now and we want to make sure we stay there. I want to be playing top-flight football and, if I didn't believe Stoke could stay up, I wouldn't have come here."