A big thank you goes out from Rafa Benitez today (probably) after Stoke completed the loan signing of unwanted midfielder Salif Diao. The official Stoke City website confirmed that the deal had gone through.
Once Diao had spoken to Stoke boss Tony Pulis about the move it seemed the only stumbling block was how much of Diao's huge wages the Potteries side would be paying. That's now clearly been resolved and Pulis is delighted. Speaking to the official Stoke website he said: "We've been monitoring Salif for a while now and have had very good reports about the kid. He played 40 games in his first season at Liverpool, he's still only 29 and he's desperate to play football."
Clearly some PR has been going on with Stoke, their website also claims that Diao "quickly established himself as a regular during his first season at Anfield", which is stretching things a little.
As expected, the loan deal is for three months but there was no mention of what the plans might be once that three months is over.