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Mark Hughes Discourages Suitors From Bidding for Stoke Playmaker Shaqiri in January

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Xherdan Shaqiri gave another reminder to anyone that needed it about his undoubted quality with another well taken goal in Stoke City's 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace over the weekend. 

As the Premier League giants begin to plan ahead of the opening of the winter transfer window, the Swiss international seems to be cropping up on the reported wish lists for many of the elite clubs.

However, the Potters' manager Mark Hughes has issued a stern'hands off' to any suitors interested in stealing away his talented playmaker. 

As quoted by Mirror Football, Hughes insisted Shaqiri is going nowhere, while his situation is very different to the one that saw Marko Arnautovic leave for West Ham in the summer.

“I don’t think there’s any enthusiasm for any situation to develop," Hughes said. “If there are any enquiries for Shaq in January, they certainly won’t be given much encouragement.”

Shaqiri was a major coup for Stoke when he signed for a club-record £12m from Internazionale in August 2015. Now after some outstanding displays this season, he finds himself on the radar of bigger Premier League teams looking to strengthen in January.

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Stoke allowed Arnautovic to join West Ham for £25m in the summer, although fellow attacker Shaqiri’s situation seems different to the temperamental Austrian who wanted to leave,  the talented Swiss winger seems more than content with life at the Bet365 stadium. 

Hughes continued: “Marko wanted to leave, but I don’t get any sense of that with Shaq.

“We don’t encourage it and we don’t expect it. We want to add to that type of player as well — players that can change games and get people off their seats.”

It could be interesting times ahead for Stoke City fans, but they will not want to lose one of their most influential players in January.