Xherdan Shaqiri has been offered to Liverpool and Everton as his representatives look to find him a Premier League club.
The Swiss winger was part of the Stoke City side relegated last season and has been clear about his plans to exercise a relegation release clause written into his contract with the Potters.
The 26-year-old spent three years with Stoke in which they twice finished as a top-half team before last year’s capitulation. Southampton and West Ham are also aware of the wideman’s situation but know that Shaqiri would prefer to remain in the north-west to avoid moving homes.
He may have little choice, with clubs on the continent baulking at his wage demands of over £100k per week.
Neither Liverpool nor Everton would struggle to find the £12m fee needed to keep Shaqiri in the Premier League, so much will depend on the player’s ambitions and how he fits into the plans of the two clubs.
The Reds are keen on Lyon star Nabil Fekir and have won over the player, though they face a tough negotiation with the club’s notorious president Jean-Michel Aulas.
Everton are looking to trim their bloated squad before adding some ‘big names’, according to new boss Marco Silva.
Sporting director Marcel Brands is renowned for his talent-spotting and his scouting department are hoping to find some diamonds in the rough this summer but equally there is an appreciation that a player like Shaqiri - proven in the top flight - rarely comes to market at such an affordable price.
