Stoke boss hails Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City and Man Utd target

Sunday, February 3, 2013
1:19 PM

Stoke manager Tony Pulis has hailed goalkeeper Asmir Begovic after his super saves against Arsenal.

It was a result that could have been a whole lot worse for Stoke had it not been for the heroics of Begovic.

The 25-year-old proved why he is sought after by Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool with a fine first-half display in which he superbly denied Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain either side of stopping a Laurent Koscielny header.

Begovic was eventually beaten by Lukas Podolski’s deflected free-kick but his performance, coupled with Birmingham goalkeeper Jack Butland’s deadline-day acquisition, has led to suggestion he could leave the Britannia Stadium this summer.

“He is a top goalkeeper and he made some fantastic saves,” City boss Tony Pulis said. “We have hopefully signed another fantastic young goalkeeper in Jack Butland.

“The speculation will now be about Asmir but we never bought Butland [to replace him]. We bought Butland because we thought it was a fantastic deal for a kid who hopefully has a great future in front of him.”