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Stoke boss Mark Hughes confident of Marko Arnautovic stay

Marko Arnautovic of Stoke City celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Barclays Premier League match against Manchester City
Image: Mark Hughes is desperate to hang on to Marko Arnautovic

Stoke boss Mark Hughes is unsurprised Marko Arnautovic is attracting interest from other clubs but remains convinced the Britannia Stadium remains the best place for the striker to flourish.

The Austria international is inside the last 18 months of his current Stoke deal, which is understood to contain a £12.5m deal buy-out clause that will become active when he enters the final year of his contract.

Arnautovic has been a standout performer for Stoke this term and Hughes is confident of retaining the 26-year-old's service amid reported interest from Paris Saint Germain.

"From my point of view it's clear that we want Marko to stay here and I think he's best served staying here," Hughes told reporters ahead of Saturday's Barclays Premier League home clash with Everton.

"What he gets here he probably hasn't got from other places he has been at in terms of encouragement and the opportunity to evolve and develop as a player.

"He's obviously going to get a lot of interest because he's a good player, but sometimes you've got to look beyond that.

"If you do make a decision to leave, you've got to understand what you are giving up. He's an intelligent boy. We are still negotiating and I'm quite comfortable with where we are with it.

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"It's ongoing and will continue to be I'm sure, maybe up until the summer - if so, so be it.

"We still think we have something we can offer him he will be delighted with."

Giannelli Imbula screengrab
Image: Stoke's record signing Giannelli Imbula could make his debut against Everton

Ahead of Saturday's visit of Everton, Hughes could hand a debut to Stoke's new record signing Giannelli Imbula, who joined the club in an £18.3m deal from Porto on Deadline Day.

"He could be involved," Hughes said of midfielder Imbula.

"He has only been with us a couple of days in terms of the playing group, but he is a good player, he is itching to play and it is my intention to involve him at some point as quickly as possible.

"The sooner he gets involved, the sooner he can understand what the Premier League is about."

Stoke are without Ryan Shawcross (back), Geoff Cameron (ankle) and Marc Wilson (knee) for the weekend's clash, while Philipp Wollscheid's participation is also questionable after he was forced off with a calf injury during Tuesday's 3-0 loss at Manchester United.

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