Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has revealed that the club failed in a bid to lure Scott Parker to the Britannia Stadium.
Pulis was in negotiations with West Ham United boss Sam Allardyce in the week leading up to transfer deadline day about the possibility of adding the England international to his squad.
However, the 30-year-old was keen to remain in London and eventually joined Tottenham Hotspur with eight hours remaining before the deadline.
"We did have a go for Parker. It was something we were trying to do for a few weeks," Pulis told The Sentinel.
"But we realised that if he could, he wanted to stay in London. That was a big part of it with him.
"I felt there were certain areas of the team we can improve and have to improve and that was one of them."
Despite losing out on Parker, Pulis did manage to finalise the signings of Peter Crouch, Cameron Jerome and Wilson Palacios last Wednesday.
Liam Apicella
