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The BBC reports that Stoke City have agreed a fee of £15 million to sign Senegalese midfielder Badou Ndiaye from Turkish club Galatasary.
Ndiaye, who rejected overtures from Newcastle, arrived in England on Tuesday to try and complete the move, although there could be issues obtaining a work permit for him.
The 27-year old he has played 8 times for Senegal and is widely expected to be in their World Cup squad for the summer. However, he has not played 60% of their internationals in the past 2 years, which is the automatic trigger for a work permit.
Ndiaye only joined Galatasary in August, having moved there from fellow Turkish league side Osmanlispor for a reported fee of £6.6 million.
If Stoke do manage to sign Ndiaye, he is likely to be their only newcomer during the transfer window. They had hoped to capture Stoke-born England-under 21 international Jake Harrison from New York City, but despite the willingness of the player to make the move, neither of the clubs could agree on a fee.
Subsequently, Manchester City have bought Harrison, and immediately loaned him out to Middlesbrough for the rest of the season.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.