Stoke City striker Peter Crouch has been linked with a move to Newcastle United.
Peter Crouch has admitted to the Daily Mirror that he loves it at Stoke City, but he is frustrated at spending so much time on the substitutes’ bench.
Crouch barely featured throughout Stoke’s Premier League campaign last term, and he is entering the last year of his contract.
Newcastle United had reportedly been looking to do a deal for Crouch (Daily Mirror), who they felt could enhance their attacking ranks.
Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez worked with Crouch at Liverpool in their younger years, so he knows the target man’s talents well.
However, Crouch seems to have put the rumours to bed, by insisting that he does not want to leave the Potters.
The 35-year-old realises that he is unlikely to start every week at this stage of his career, but he would like to play more regularly throughout the upcoming campaign.
“I don’t want to move anywhere, but it was frustrating and I found it very difficult just watching on the sidelines,” Crouch said.
“I didn’t start as many games as I’d have liked, but that’s life and when you’re at a club that’s an established top-10 Premier League club with aspirations for Europe, there are going to be games as a 35 year-old that you don’t play.
“But of course I want to be playing a bit more than I was last year.”
Crouch faces competition with the likes of Bojan and Joselu for a place in Stoke’s first team.
Newcastle, meanwhile, have already brought in Dwight Gayle from Crystal Palace to strengthen their striking ranks this summer.
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