Could There Be A Crouch Deal?

Tony Pulis is watching Crouch's availability to Spurs

Harry Redknapp may want to sell Crouch as he set's to shake up the whole Tottenham squad.

Pulis, who wants to bring in at least one new striker before the August 31 deadline, has already seen attempts to sign West Ham's Carlton Cole and Birmingham's Cameron Jerome, but both deals stopping due to personal terms.

Pulis has been a long-time admirer of Macclesfield-born Crouch, would be prepared to wait until the end of the August transfer window if needs be to get his man.

The 6ft 7ins Crouch has generated more than £30m in transfers to the likes of Liverpool, Portsmouth and Spurs over the last decade, but a current asking price of well below £10m would fall within Stoke's reach.

And Stoke could accommodate his salary within their wage structure by agreeing a higher transfer fee so Tottenham could then pay off part of his remaining contract with them.

Crouch only started 20 times last season, but was played more regularly in the Champions League with 10 full appearances in Europe.

Pulis would love to secure Crouch's goalscoring threat, and has never struggled to do business with his old mentor Redknapp.

Chairman Peter Coates declined to comment on new targets, but doesn't necessarily think the Cole and Jerome deals are completely dead.

With Stoke selling Tuncay for £4.5m in January, offloading his replacement John Carew since the end of the season, and having Ricardo Fuller and Mama Sidibe injured long-term, Coates acknowledged that at least one new striker remained a priority for Pulis.

"Yes, we would expect that to happen," he said. "We are confident we will be able to improve the squad before the deadline.

"We are working on a few things, but football is a messy business and these things take time."

Coates will have a meeting with Pulis tomorrow to discuss their on-going transfer strategy.