Stoke City captain Ryan Shawcross has played down rumours linking him with Newcastle United.
Swansea City’s Fernando Llorente in action with Stoke City’s Ryan Shawcross
Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross has told the Stoke Sentinel that he is not signing for Newcastle amid speculation surrounding a move to St. James’ Park.
Shawcross, 29, joined Stoke on loan from Manchester United back in 2007, and his impressive performances earned him a permanent move to the Potteries in January 2008.
The defender has been a mainstay of the Stoke side throughout their time in the Premier League, and even became the club’s captain in 2010.
With almost 350 appearances to his name for Stoke, Shawcross has been a key player at the bet365 Stadium for over ten years now – but some speculation suggests that he could be on his way out of the club.
The Independent reported last week that Newcastle United are hoping to sign Shawcross this summer, as manager Rafael Benitez is believed to want a strong, experienced centre back who can lead the club into the Premier League having won promotion from the Championship.
Stoke City’s Ryan Shawcross in action with Everton’s Romelu Lukaku
With just one year left on his Stoke contract, Shawcross’ future is up in the air, which has given Newcastle some hope of pulling off a summer deal – but the player himself appears to have poured cold water on the rumours.
Shawcross has told the Stoke Sentinel that he is not going to Newcastle, labelling the rumours ‘paper talk’, acknowledging that his contract situation lends itself to speculation about his future.
Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross in action with Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe
The defender, who has one England cap to his name, added that he will stay with Stoke as long as he has a contract on the table, but did admit that there have been no talks about a new contract so far.
“I’m not going to Newcastle…at the moment,” said Shawcross. ““It’s paper talk. I’ve got a year left on my contract and any time a player comes to the later stages of his contract there’s going to be talk. All I can do is concentrate on Stoke and hopefully play well.”
“I can only stay where my contract ties me to and as long as there’s a contract I will stay. I enjoy working under the manager and everything is good, but when you only have a year left you have to think about things, but there’s been no talks so far and that’s where we are at,” he added.
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