Stoke City chairman Peter Coates has revealed how they cast a wide net to eventually sign Chelsea winger Victor Moses.
Coates said Stoke had agreed fees with not just Liverpool for Oussama Assaidi, but also with Norwich for Nathan Redmond, as they chased a winger for a fee of more than £5m.
But failure to land either target left manager Mark Hughes turning to Chelsea's Victor Moses instead at the weekend on a season-long loan.
"We have made offers for players this year," the chairman stated to The Sentinel. "On Nathan Redmond, we were prepared to pay money.
"We met Norwich's asking price, but the club didn't want to sell and I don't have any quarrel with Norwich for that.
"The point I'm making is simply that we were prepared to spend money, but the club wasn't prepared to sell.
"We also met Liverpool's asking price on Assaidi. That deal fell down on personal terms.
"Moses has then come along and so now we have got a different sort of deal."
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