On July 25th, Liverpool and Stoke City announced the completion of a five year, £13 million deal for midfielder Joe Allen.
Allen told (and by told, we mean most likely words attributed to him by a club media relations professional) the club’s official website: “It’s been a whirlwind 48 hours for me, but I am delighted to have finally been able to put pen to paper.
“I was really excited as soon as I heard of the club’s interest and it wasn’t a difficult decision for me to make. I am incredibly excited about my future here at Stoke City.”
That’s industry standard. Most “quotes” are just made up by PR people, but we have another reason to find his statement rather suspect. It’s because today the Daily Telegraph have a story in which Joe Allen said that he only found out Liverpool had sent him to Stoke City upon receiving a friend’s text.
“I actually had a text message off a friend congratulating me about making the move when I didn’t even know it was happening at the time,” Allen said.
“Not knowing whether the club intend to sell you or keep you, especially when you’re trying to ask the question, is disappointing.
“If I’m honest, to find out they accepted an offer through the press isn’t the best way of going about business, I don’t think. The communication wasn’t great but as soon as Liverpool accepted an offer I knew what their intentions were for me.”
“It was a bit strange but that’s how things happen sometimes. There was no real goodbye, but I’m not the most sentimental person anyway. It’s irrelevant now because sitting here I’ve got the move I wanted.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.