Stoke City assistant manager Mark Bowen has said the club remain hopeful of signing Xherdan Shaqiri, but admitted "there is a limit to how long we can wait".
Shaqiri appears surplus to requirements at Inter, who have reportedly accepted a £12million bid from Stoke.
The Premier League side declared an interest in Shaqiri prior to his move to Inter from Bayern Munich in January - and have not given up on persuading the Swiss international his future lies at the Britannia Stadium.
Bowen is quoted as telling The Sentinel: "We are still waiting. There is a limit to how long we can wait, but we are hopeful and still waiting, it's as simple as that.
"We know the qualities he's got and maybe in January we got excited for a few days thinking we could bring that kind of player to Stoke. It didn't happen then, but maybe it will happen now.
"The lad left Basel, went to Munich, and two-and-a-half years later he leaves there to go to Inter. Now it's only six months later. Maybe he's thinking whether he wants to move again or put down roots and stay in one place.
"That will be at the back of his mind, so you have to give a player like him the time.
"You can push, push, push, but there is a balance between doing that and giving him the time to make the right decision for himself. They have to want to sign."
Inter coach Roberto Mancini conceded last week that Shaqiri and Davide Santon were likely to leave the club.
"Shaqiri is a fantastic player but we have some problems with the squad list," said Mancini.
"We have 25 players and we need to sell some but I think they are two good players for [the] English championship."
