Stoke City could struggle to keep hold of Xherdan Shaqiri after their £15m signing refused to commit his long-term future to the club and revealed he wants to play in the Champions League again.
Shaqiri joined as Stoke’s club record signing when they paid nearly £15m to sign the Switzerland international from Inter in August 2015.
The 23-year-old still has three-and-a-half years remaining on his existing deal with Stoke but there have always been doubts over his long-term future, which have only intensified following his latest comments.
“At 25, it would be silly to say that I want to end my career at Stoke,” Shaqiri told The Daily Mirror. “At the moment I feel very comfortable. I have scored three goals as many as in the whole of last season.
“Stoke have a super coach, super team, ninth in the Premier League. But of course I want to play Champions League again in the near future.”
Shaqiri hasn’t got a taste of UEFA’s elite club competition since making four appearances for Bayern Munich during the 2014/15 campaign, although all of those game in the group stages before being shipped off to Inter in January 2015.
The Swiss forward has scored all thee of his Premier League goals from outside the box this season, more than anyone else to have scored all of their goals from the same range.
For more stats on Xherdan Shaqiri, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
