Stoke City chief executive Tony Scholes has revealed that Joe Allen has been on the radar of the club for a while now.

The Potters managed to clinch the £13million signing of the 26-year-old midfielder from Liverpool on Monday with Scholes admitting that it was one manager Mark Hughes wanted to get done for quite some time.

"Joe is a player that Mark Hughes has admired for a considerable amount of time," he told Stoke's official website.

"Therefore when we became aware of the possibility of bringing him to the club it was something that we were determined to do."

Allen arrives at the Britannia Stadium on a five-year deal having spent the past four seasons with the Reds at Anfield.