By J Bateman
November 20 2002

Stoke City Has Refused Sergei Shtaniuk Request For A Transfer From The Brittania Stadium. Sergei Shtaniuk handed in a transfer request yesterday but the request was turned down flatly today by Stoke.

Director of football John Rudge has revealed plans to talk to the player soon about a new deal , Shtaniuk has 18 months left on his contract and Stoke are hoping to get the player to extend it for a further year.

John Rudge speaking to the official site said "Sergei has put in a transfer request and we have notified him and his agent it has been rejected."
"We are disappointed as he still has 18 months on his current contract and we have been trying to negotiate a new deal since the start of the season."

"As well as extending his terms by a further 12 months the new deal would also amend the structure of his contract to give the club more control."
"The structure of the present terms are quite complicated and involve a share of ownership with his agent’s company."Rudge also added

Shtanuik is a major part of Stoke City and this outburst will doing nothing but anger the Stoke faithful as they fight against relegation , but hopefully the player will see sense and look at the option of signing a new deal.