Stoke City could be set to suffer frustration over their potential attempts to secure a move for Aberdeen striker Sam Cosgrove, with the Scottish club not wanting to sell the forward, according to the Daily Record.

Michael O’Neill is attempting to add to his attacking options during the last few days of the transfer window, having already secured Tyrese Campbell’s long-term future at the Bet365 Stadium – and the Potters have been linked with a move for Cosgrove alongside Dundee United’s Lawrence Shankland.

Cosgrove has been in excellent form in front of goal so far this campaign for Aberdeen, with the strike having netted 11 goals in 20 appearances in the Scottish Premiership, having managed to score 17 goals in 35 games last season as he has found some real consistency over the last year-and-a-half.

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Aberdeen are thought to be ready to reject any offer for Cosgrove that falls bellow their valuation of the forward, and Stoke’s reported potential £2million offer would fall well adrift of the Scottish clubs valuation of the player, meaning were Stoke to make such an offer it would likely to be knocked back.

The verdict

This will be frustrating for O’Neill as he continues to try and find another option up front between now and the end of the transfer window, and Cosgrove is clearly an option that O’Neill feels would potentially be able to come and do a job for his side were they to sign him.

However, with time running out in the window and the two clubs seemingly far apart in their respective valuations of the player, it looks like any potential move to bring Cosgrove to Stoke looks unlikely at this stage and will probably come down to whether the Potters are able to reach the level of offer demanded by Aberdeen.

Given Cosgrove’s importance to the Scottish side you can certainly see why they are holding out for a high offer before they will contemplate selling him before the end of the window, and were they to sell at this stage it would leave them very little time to find a replacement.

It therefore looks as though Stoke could need to move on to pursue some other potential targets to boost their options up front, with O’Neill hopeful that the Potters can sign a striker before the end of Deadline Day.