Tony Pulis has played down reports Stoke are closing in on the loan signings of Kanga Akale and Haminu Dramani.
African pair not destined for Britannia
Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has played down reports the club are closing in on the loan signings of Kanga Akale and Haminu Dramani.
The Potters have been linked with loan moves for the pair, who play for Lens and Lokomotiv Moscow respectively, as Pulis looks to bolster his squad before the close of the transfer window.
Lens' Akale spent the end of last season on loan with Marseille and it had been thought he could be set for a spell in the Premier League.
However, when asked if he was lining up a move for the Ivory Coast winger, Pulis told
Sky Sports News: "No."
The Stoke boss was then quizzed on the possibility that 22-year-old Ghana international Dramani could join.
"Which country is he from? Nope there's no truth in these players and if there was I wouldn't be telling you.
"We've been trying for ages to get players in. Obviously it's getting closer to the deadline, but I keep saying to everyone if we do business we'll do business with other clubs, we won't do it in the media."
Stoke have also been linked with out-of-favour Liverpool duo Jermaine Pennant and Sami Hyypia, but Pulis refused to be drawn on those names either.
"You can go on, and on and on. I think the most important thing is we try and do our business in the right and proper manner.
"If we can do deals we'll do deals. I keep saying there are three parties involved and you have to get them to agree. That's the way it works."
Meanwhile, Pulis believes football needs to ditch the transfer window as it leaves managers in a situation where they feel they need to gamble unnecessarily on transfers.
"I think it is farcical rally," he remarked. "It's really a situation we need to knock on the head if we can.
"People chase players and things they don't want. It puts pressure on managers to do deals they don't want to do."
