Pulis still believes Stoke can sign James

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis hasn’t given up hope of signing Portsmouth goalkeeper David James during the January transfer window.

After Stoke knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup on Sunday they were drawn against Manchester City – one of James’s former clubs – in the fifth round.

After their 3-1 win over Premier League leaders Arsenal, Pulis said of the plan to sign James on loan from top flight basement club Portsmouth: “We are still working on it, it has taken longer than I expected.”

One way for cash-strapped Portsmouth, who are facing a winding up order from British tax authorities over alleged unpaid bills, to reduce their debts is to have other clubs pay their players’ wages, as would happen if England international James went on loan to Stoke.

But if James were to move to the Britannia Stadium, it would place a question mark against the Stoke future of current first-choice goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen.

The Dane, who has been linked with a move to Bayern Munich, has made some high-profile errors in recent games and Pulis said Monday. “I’ve had a good chat with him and he understands the situation.

“The important thing is that we bring in competition to push everyone, Thomas included.”

Neither James nor Denmark’s Sorensen will be happy to sit on the bench in the build-up to the World Cup, with both their respective nations having qualified for this year’s finals in South Africa.

But Pulis said he wanted both players at the club. “I believe we are one of the few Premier League clubs with only two goalkeepers (in their first-team squad) and we need cover with three keepers.

“Thomas would be first to hold his hands up and say everybody needs competition. Thomas has made a couple of mistakes which get highlighted more as a goalkeeper, but he’s been a fantastic signing for us.”