Stoke City assistant manager Mark Bowen has confirmed their interest in Bayern Munich winger Xherdan Shaqiri.

The Switzerland international, 23, has found himself out of favour with Pep Guardiola's side, with most of his 14 games this term coming from the bench.

Liverpool and Inter Milan are among clubs also reportedly keen to sign him.

"There is genuine interest because he is a fantastic player," Bowen told BBC Radio Stoke. "He wants to play regular first-team football."

Bowen, whose side are currently 11th in the Premier League, continued: "Without any detriment to Stoke City, to get a player like him on board would be fantastic, but he has got many choices of what he wants to do, but we don't rule ourselves out.

"He's definitely on our list, but as you can imagine there is competition for a player of his ability."

Shaqiri, who came through the youth ranks at Basel and has 41 caps, has won the Bundesliga twice and the Champions League once while with German giants Bayern.
Bowen also confirmed that Bayer Leverkusen defender Philip Wollscheid will be joining on loan in the transfer window with a view to a permanent move.

"We'll have to assess his fitness, but he's been playing at Mainz on loan. We expect him to be not far away from match fitness.

"Philip's 24 years old, 6ft 4ins, he's got a fantastic pedigree and played for the national team on a couple of occasions.

"You're always looking to strengthen the team for the future, and if players like Philip become available at the right financial bracket, you'd be unwise not to pursue it instead of waiting until the summer."