The folks at Stoke City are said to be pretty confident of landing West Bromwich Albion striker Saido Berahino before Wednesday's transferdeadline.
The Potters have been chasing Berahino for just about a year now, and according to theMirror, they believe that the pursuit will soon be over.
Baggies boss Tony Pulis has indicated that his side may finally be ready to part ways with the 23-year-old, and plans to use the £20m which should be coming in to fund transfers for Nacer Chadli (already completed)andIgnacio Camacho.
The player, in a weird twist of events, jetted off on a holiday just 72 hours before the close of the transfer window. Pulis has given his squad four days off as a result of of the international break, and Berahino has stolen the opportunity to leave the country and spend time with family.
This can't be good for Mark Hughes, who has been even moredesperate to sign the striker since losing out in a deadline-day bid earlier this year. With Berahino out of the country, it's now twice as difficult.
Unless something changes in the next two days, Stoke can kiss their hopes of signing the forward goodbye.
Berahino posted a tweet to his official page on Monday, showing a swimming pool, presumably at some resort. He captioned it "Few days with family away".
Few days with family away☀�� pic.twitter.com/Ychzi0PbWI
Hughes is also keen on signing a defender this summer, and has singled out Manchester United's Phil Jones as a target, with Liverpool's Mamadou Sakho having turned down the opportunity to join the Potters on loan.