Stoke City have warned players off bogus agents after discovering a Nigerian goalkeeper had wrongly been offered trials at the Brit.

An agent operating under the name of Paul Masterton claimed to have acted on the Club's behalf in setting up for Samson Alli to come to this country.

City have stated that they have not entered into any such agreement with a player of that name and have highlighted this case in the hope it will avoid other footballers, particularly those from other countries hoping for such an opportunity, from being made false promises.

"We take such matters very seriously and would urge anyone to be extremely vigilant if they are approached by anyone claiming to act on the Club's behalf with regard to trials or transfers," City's Chief Executive Tony Scholes told the club's website.

"We do not use third party agents for the negotiation of such opportunities or indeed the gathering of information about players."