Stoke City new boy Xherdan Shaqiri has refused to give too much importance to Stefan Effenberg’s criticism of his move to England.
After several weeks of dilly-dallying, the Swiss international finally agreed to move to Stoke City from Inter Milan earlier this week.
Schalke were also interested in signing the former Bayern Munich man, but failed to match the wages that Stoke offered to Shaqiri.
Effenberg has been critical of the 23-year-old’s decision to reject Schalke in favour of Stoke and indicated that the Swiss gave more importance to money than his ambition as a footballer.
However, Shaqiri refused to give too much credence to Effenberg’s criticism and said that the former Germany international has too much free time on his hands these days to make such comments.
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He stressed that he is looking to concentrate on his football at Stoke rather than bother about what other people think about his decision to move to England.
Speaking at a press conference, the Stoke City new boy said: “He has no job at the moment, so he can talk – he’s a free man.
“Anybody can talk who is free. But I don’t want to comment on this.
“I will concentrate on my job – I’m happy to be here and I can’t wait to play. This is my job. It isn’t my job to comment on what people say.”
Shaqiri could make his debut for his new club against Tottenham at White Hart Lane tomorrow.
