Is the Welsh Pirlo set to move to Stoke?

You wait for one bit of Stoke transfer news and that two come along at once as after the news that Mark Hughes has bid £20m for Saido Berahino he has now seen a £13m bid for Liverpool’s Joe Allen accepted. The question now is whether or not Allen is prepared to move to Stoke.

£13m would be a good bit of business for Liverpool especially as Allen is out of contract at the end of this upcoming season, his value will have no doubt been enhanced by his performances for Wales at Euro 2016 and Jurgen Klopp will now be able to add a couple of million to his own summer transfer budget.

Liverpool fans will probably be wondering where the Joe Allen for Wales has been in his four seasons at Anfield.
A £20M signing by former manger Brendan Rodgers back in 2012 it’s fair to say he hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations his price tag would have set.

89 Premier League appearances has only delivered 4 goals and although his primary not job is not to score goals, he scored the same amount in just one solitary Premier League for his former club Swansea. It would also be fair to say that Allen has never quite nailed down a first team spot under either Brendan Rodgers or Jurgen Klopp, with last season only seeing play in 17 league matches.

But a move to Stoke would undoubtedly see him thrust straight into the first team and this where Allen could really be allowed to flourish and hopefully for Mark Hughes turn in the kind of performances that took Wales to the Euro 2016 semi finals week in week out.

Once again like Berahino it could be a move that suits all parties. Liverpool get a handsome fee for someone who could leave for nothing while Stoke get themselves a midfielder with real international pedigree. I think it will be a case of not if but when Allen calls Stoke his new home.