Stoke dismiss Shawcross speculation

(GSM) – Stoke City chief executive Tony Scholes has dismissed speculation regarding defender Ryan Shawcross’ possible move to Liverpool, Juventus or even Real Madrid.

The 23-year-old, who was named in the England squad by Fabio Capello in February, has seen a meteoric rise in his reputation as a formidable opponent in the Premier League.

Despite interest from Europe’s most historic clubs trainee, Scholes says Shawcross will not be leaving Stoke for the moment.

“I had heard about the Liverpool story, but not the Juventus one. I’m sure Ryan will smile about it,” Scholes told the Stoke Sentinel. “There is no truth in the rumours, but the speculation shows how far Ryan has come in his time here and how he is turning into one of the best young centre backs in the country.”

Shawcross’ rise to prominence at Stoke has not been without controversy though. It was his challenge that broke the leg of Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey last season and Arsene Wenger recently accused the defender of kicking Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.

Stoke demanded an apology after Wenger said: “You cannot say it is football anymore.”

However, Scholes says the rapport between the two clubs is satisfactory.

“Relations are fine,” Scholes said. “Arsenal are a great football club and they do a lot of things extremely well. We all have a huge amount of respect for them, but if Arsenal, or any other club, does something unfair to us, then we will defend ourselves.

“Arsenal have a reputation and image that is bigger than ours and we understand that. You could also argue that a lot of the national media is London-based. We have to make sure that when we have a point to make, we work hard to get it across.”