Stoke manager Tony Pulis expects to sign England goalkeeper David
James from premier League strugglers Portsmouth in the next few
days.
A loan deal to take the 39-year-old to the Britannia stadium
has been on and off for the past fortnight.
But Pulis told BBC Radio 5 Live: "We were hoping we would
have done (the deal) and got that sorted out before now but it
hasn't.
"It has gone on a little bit longer than we thought it was
going to take, but sometimes these things happen.
"We're still interested in David. If we can do the deal we
think it'll be a good deal for Stoke and we think it'll be a good
deal for David."
James is keen to move to Stoke to improve his chances of
being in the England squad for the World Cup and cash-struggling
Portsmouth would welcome the opportunity to offload one of their
biggest earners.
Stoke, however, do not want to break their wage structure and
have been unwilling to buck that to sign James, especially as the
goalkeeper has been suffering with injuries this season.
The Midlands club were also concerned that James's contract
with Portsmouth runs until the end of June which, with the Premier
League season ending on May 9, raised questions about who should
pick up the goalkeeper's salary when he has finished playing club
football.
Pulis, however, expects a deal to be done by midweek.
He said: "Hopefully. It's a chicken and egg situation. We're
just hoping we can close the deal."
