Despite the deal being close to completion, Stoke’s capture of Inter Milan midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri could still fall through.
The Swiss international only joined the Italian club from Bayern Munich in the January transfer window but has failed to convince at the San Siro.
He had been tipped for a move to Mark Hughes’ side with Milan even accepting a £12m offer for the 23-yerar-old, though he is reportedly not keen on a move to the Britannia Stadium.
Reports have suggested that Milan are looking to use him as part-exchange to bring Tottenham’s Erik Lamela back to Italy after he failed to shine at White Hart Lane, following his £26m move from Roma back in 2013.
Inter boss Roberto Mancini hinted on Friday that Shaqiri could be one of the personnel to make way for new signings.
He said: “If we signed them [Santon and Shaqiri] in January, then it’s because we believed in them,” Mancini explained in his first Press conference of the season.
“We have the restriction of a 25-man squad, so we’ll have to do something, and reluctantly some will have to leave.
"If I had my way, I’d keep them all, but we have a numerical limit.”
Inter are in the middle of a rebuilding process having already acquired Martin Montoya, Miranda, Geoffrey Kondogbia and, their latest arrival, Jeison Murillo signed a five-year-deal on Friday.
Bojan and Shaqiri could have been a great partnership
The capture of 23-year-old would have been another impressive signing, with Hughes having brought in former Barcelona man Bojan last summer. He impressed until his injury against Rochdale in the FA Cup in January ended his season.
But the Spaniard has recovered from his injury and is raring to go ahead of the 2015/16 season.
He said: "I'm very happy to be back and to see everybody again and now my focus is to start the new season playing at the same level I was before I got injured."