Pulis on Cole Deal

Tony Pulis has said  “We have spoken as a board and a management team and it’s very important that we keep our wage structure to a level.

“We have overachieved enormously over the last four years and we know that within the club. But what we don’t want to do is chase and chase and chase and put ourselves in a position that if it went wrong financially, then the club is in a bad state. That will not happen at Stoke City.

“We have never paid one player a lot more than the rest. The aim is not to do that.”

Stoke chairman Peter Coates had questioned Cole’s fitness, but West Ham hit back after stating the former ­Chelsea and Aston Villa hitman had played 43 games last season.

But Pulis, who saw his side return from a week-long training camp in Austria to gear up for the Europa League with a 1-1 draw at Newport on Saturday, admits he remains in the dark over the deal.

He said: “I’ve been away so whatever has gone on with Carlton has gone on. I prefer to do my business behind closed doors.”