Begovic happy to move away from Pompey circus

(GSM) – New Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic says he is relieved to have moved away from Portsmouth. The Bosnian is happy to have left the the uncertainty surrounding Fratton Park due to financial difficulties.

Begovic snubbed Premier League rivals Tottenham in favor for a move to Tony Pulis’ Stoke.

Asked if it was a relief to quit Pompey, he told Sky Sports News, “In a few ways it was because with all the problems going on behind the scenes, it does affect the players.

“So it is a relief to come to a more stable position, for sure.”

Asked if it was affecting players’ performances, he added: “In one way or another, probably, because maybe certain guys weren’t preparing the same.

“But once we got on the pitch we tried to put the problems behind us and tried to move on. But it would be nice if you didn’t have to worry about those kind of things.”

Begovic has also revealed the frustration among Portsmouth’s players regarding the non-payment of their wages.

He said, “We had no idea. We had people coming in from the PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association) to try and get answers. But we weren’t getting any answers.

“They (Portsmouth) were giving us different excuses as to why money wasn’t going in. They would say it was going in one day and then it wasn’t going in that day. We really didn’t know.”

He added, “Sometimes you just stopped believing different things and just knew there wasn’t any money available.”