Pulis wants Pennant stay

Stoke City boss Tony Pulis is hopeful of securing a permanent move for on-loan Real Zaragoza midfielder Jermaine Pennant.

The winger has been with Stoke since the start of the season, and Pulis is keen to have the 27-year-old at Britannia Stadium permanently.

It was originally thought Zaragoza’s asking price would be too high but, speaking after his side’s 2-0 home loss to Fulham on Tuesday, Pulis said a deal was getting closer to becoming reality.

“I think the two clubs are getting closer and I think we’ve got them to drop their price a bit,” he told Sky Sports.

“But I think it was always going to be this – I think there was going to be brinkmanship right up until the last minute.”

“The fact of the matter is we’ve stuck on what we think is the right price for him and fingers crossed we’ll get him at that price.”