Stoke have moved on from Shaqiri – Hughes

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has ruled out a move for Inter midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri in the immediate future, claiming he has “other targets now”.

Hughes confirmed he had met with the Switzerland international, who moved to Italy from Bayern Munich in January, but did not “sense” that a transfer was likely.

“I went out and spoke to Shaqiri,” Hughes said.

“We had a good chat. We needed to establish whether a deal could get done and we didn’t sense that.

“Maybe it is one that could be revisited, but I would say that it is probably not likely to happen. We have other targets now.”

Stoke have already recruited six players ahead of the 2015-16 season, with goalkeepers Shay Given and Jakob Haugaard arriving at the Britannia Stadium, along with forward Joselu, midfielder Marco van Ginkel and defenders Philipp Wollscheid and Glen Johnson.

Former Liverpool full-back Johnson was confirmed on Sunday and Hughes declared he was “delighted” to secure the signature of the England international.

“Glen Johnson is a proven, experienced and this is a great move for him,” he said.

“I have been really impressed by what he has said to me. We feel that Johnson will have a big impact upon the team this season. We are delighted to have him here.”