Free agent Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting rejects big money offers as Stoke City return dismissed
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting has starred in the Champions League since leaving Stoke City in the Championship and is now one of the most eye-catching free agents in the European transfer market
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting has reportedly turned down lucrative offers to play in Brazil and Dubai but is not thinking about hanging up his boots.
The forward, now aged 35, left Bayern Munich at the end of last season following a post-Stoke City career on the big stage. He had played for Bayern and Paris Saint-Germain in the latter stages of the Champions League, won the Bundesliga three times and Ligue 1 twice since leaving Stoke in the Championship.
He has been linked with a move to Torino this week as the Serie A club looks to find a stand-in for Duvan Zapata, who picked up a long-term knee injury last weekend. He has previously been linked with Seville and Real Sociedad.
But for now he is training on his own and remains one of the more eye-catching names in the European free agent catalogue – although reports in Cameroon that he was returning to Stoke are wide of the mark and seem only to be based on old photographs from when he was signed by Mark Hughes back in 2017.
Sky Sports Germany’s Florian Plettenberg said: “Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting wants to continue his career and is currently not thinking about retirement. Recently, he has turned down offers from Brazil and Dubai. The 35-year-old striker is still waiting for the right offer and is currently staying in shape privately.”
Narcis Pelach has only just had three weeks to assess what he has inherited at Stoke City.
He will have known most players’ strengths and weaknesses after a few years in the Championship making assessments as an opponent but that is different to what Alex Neil always used to describe as getting in at a club and really checking under the bonnet.