Inter Milan accept £12m bid from Stoke City for Xherdan Shaqiri

Xherdan Shaqiri is yet to agree personal terms as Stoke’s bid is accepted by Inter

Inter Milan have accepted a £12m deal with Stoke City for the transfer of their star player Xherdan Shaqiri in a record deal for the Potters, according to The Guardian. However, the 23-year-old is yet to agree personal terms with the Potters, having joined Inter Milan only this year.

Mark Hughes is a huge admirer of the Swiss international, who also tried to sign him while he was at Bayern Munich. However, the former Manchester City manager now has a job on his hands as he will have to convince Shaqiri to move to the Britannia Stadium, after the Swiss international previously stated on ESPN that he wanted to stay at Inter.

Everton, who have already signed midfielders Tom Cleverley and Gerard Deulofeu this summer, are also rumored to be interested in signing him but will have to move quickly now as the transfer reaches its climax.

Inter boss Roberto Mancini looks set to offload the midfielder as he goes about rebuilding his squad after a poor 2014/15 season for the Nerazzurri. They have already signed defensive midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia from Monaco and centre-back Miranda from Atletico Madrid.

Stoke, meanwhile, have signed former Real Madrid striker Joselu from Hannover in a £5.75m deal and goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard from FC Midtjylland during this transfer window. If the deal for Shaqiri goes through, he would become Stoke’s most expensive signing, topping the £10m paid by them for the services of Peter Crouch from Tottenham in 2010.

Shaqiri has never been able to cement a place at Bayern and Inter

Shaqiri played for FC Basel where he made his name winning multiple titles with them. Thereafter, German side Bayern Munich signed him on February 2012 with the transfer fee reported to be €11.6 million.

In the 2012/13 season, Shaqiri won the treble with the Bavarian giants for the first time in their history as they won the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and the Champions League. Regardless, he was never a regular starter in Pep Guardiola’s squad and netted only 17 goals in 81 appearances for the 2014/15 Bundesliga champions. He then went on to join Inter Milan for a reported €15m in January this year. At his new club, he struggled for form and played only 20 matches, making just 8 league starts and scoring thrice.

At the international level, it has been a different story for the winger as he has been a mainstay for the Swiss team since his debut in 2010 against Uruguay. He has scored 15 goals in 42 appearances for the team so far.