Mark Hughes keeps Jermaine Pennant at Stoke

MARK Hughes re-signed Jermaine Pennant for Stoke because he feared seeing the winger ripping the Potters apart for a Premier League rival.

Winger Pennant has been signed back to Stoke after being released during the summer

The ex-Liverpool man, 30, was released by Stoke in the summer after falling out with former boss Tony Pulis and was shipped out on loan to Wolves.

But Pennant strolled back in the front door with a new one-year contract in his hand just a week later.

Hughes said: “I looked at that and thought, ‘Would I be upset if I saw Jermaine Pennant in someone else’s shirt?’

“It didn’t make sense to me to let him leave”

Mark Hughes

“The answer to that was a very clear yes. It didn’t make sense to me to let him leave.”
Ex-England man Pennant said: “I wouldn’t say I have a point to prove because it is not as though I have never played any good football.”