'The club wanted me out' - James Beattie

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The highly paid frontman joined Stoke for £2.5m but the fee will rise another million shortly. The prolific goalscorer netted 22 goals for the red and white wizards last season and was on a streak of form this season where he bagged 12 so far. But he has expressed his desire that he didn't want to leave Bramall Lane.

He said: "Kevin Blackwell and Sam Ellis at Sheffield United were desperate to keep me, but the club wanted me out for financial reasons and nailed their colours to the mast on that one.

"I was down here last Thursday, but it didn't happen last week because there were just a couple of minor things we needed to sort out. I thought I would test the waters and it was clear they wanted me out for financial reasons."