Stoke City’s chief scout recently said that the club had a chance to sign Emmanuel Adebayor for £3 million.
“I remember one of the first names I gave to Tony [Pulis] at Stoke was a lightning-quick, 6ft 4in striker called Adebayor. But we were in the Championship and we were told the fee of £3m was too much,” said Stoke City’s Chief Scout Lindsay Parsons.
Adebayor isn’t the only player that Stoke has missed out on. The list of footballers that Stoke City’s chief scout recommended, but the club passed on, include:
- Emmanuel Adebayor
- Cheik Tiote
- Ben Arfa
- Demba Ba (failed medical)
“Look at Lionel Messi, he is different class and is he too small? I have recommended players like Tiote, Ben Arfa and Ba. But they have not been signed by Stoke and they have done well for other clubs.”
Stoke’s chief scout had some choice words to say about Tony Pulis. “We have loads of disagreements because I don’t like the way they play and I will never change on that.”
In addition to Stoke, Parsons has worked with Pulis at Gillingham, Bristol City, Portsmouth and Plymouth.
To be fair to Stoke, all clubs have players that they could have signed but have passed on for different reasons. Arsenal is just one example, where Arsene Wenger has admitted that he passed on opportunities to sign Gareth Bale, Didier Drogba and many other footballers who went on to stardom.
H/T The Mirror.
