Days after the news that Tony Pulis was willing to let the creative forward play of Eidur Gudjohnsen leave for nothing, it appears that fellow creative spark, Tuncay Sanli could be out the door to boot.
Tuncay, despite being a fans favourite at Stoke since signing from Middlesbrough, has very rarely started for the Potters. This is due to his style of play, despite giving Stoke an extra dimension off the bench, does not fit with Pulis’ ‘plan A’.
The arrival of Jon Walters, who does Tuncay’s job up front, but in a way that requires less of a complete alteration in Stoke’s style of play, has reduced his chances up front. With Pennant also joining permanently, which has turned the Turkish internationals job at Stoke as little more than Matthew Etherington’s backup on the Left-Wing.
Back in October, following Guus Hiddink publicly criticizing his performance for Turkey in a 3-0 defeat against Turkey and then pulling him off after an hour against Azerbaijan, Tuncay openly worried about how his backup role was affecting his international career.
“I will stay until January and try to get myself into the team. But if I cannot, then I will ask the club to let me go. I have to think about my career and about Turkey.” Tuncay told the local press.
West Ham and Wigan were both alerted by those comments back then and with no increase in 28-year olds opportunities, they will be sniffing around with the possibility of £4m being enough to acquire his signature. Blackburn are now also interested, were their bid for Ronaldinho to fail.
All of them will face competition from Schalke mind, with the Bundesliga side having been openly interested in Tuncay back in the summer.
About the Author
Tony Pulis is an absolute genius. He is a good mate of Sir Alex Ferguson and so must be good at his job.