Stoke City are confident of keeping hold of Ryan Shawcross.

The captain is about to enter the final year of his current deal.

“There's nothing really to say on Ryan," Scholes told The Sentinel. “Nothing to say apart from he's been a great player for the club, he's been here a number of years now, been a huge part of what the club has achieved over the years and we hope that will remain the case for many years to come.

“When you've got important players, you want to do something sooner rather than later. But that is a very simple statement about what can be a very complicated and long process.

“There's always talks. People talk about `have talks started?' We've been in contact."