Champions League giants looking to make surprise swoop for Stoke City star

Spanish news outlet Donbalon have reported that Catalan giants Barcelona are planning a late swoop for Stoke City’s Xherdan Shaqiri after his World Cup heroics.

The Swiss caused controversy on Friday night not by scoring a late winner against Serbia, but celebrating with a ‘double eagle’, the flag of Albania. Shaqiri is of Kosovan descent and had already seen the celebration performed by Granit Xhaka, sending out a strong political message.

That aside, Shaqiri has thrived over in Russia and his form has allegedly alerted one of the biggest club sides in world football. The report suggests they see him as an impact player from the bench, with manager Ernesto Valverde wanting to bring him in as an improvement on Paco Alcacer.

Shaqiri enjoyed an impressive season with Stoke, despite their relegation from the top flight. He bagged eight goals but earned the ire of Gary Neville for going missing towards the end of the season.

The 26-year-old has a £12m release clause in his contract and has been attracting the interest of Liverpool already this summer.

The Verdict

This is what happens with a couple of good World Cup performances. Players reputations can be made and broken by 90 minutes or 180 minutes of football.

Switzerland wouldn’t even need to qualify from the group, but another goal scoring outing for Shaqiri will simply continue to alert Europe’s top clubs.