Hughes frustrated as Berahino negotiations stall

(Reuters) - Stoke City manager Mark Hughes is frustrated at the lack of progress in the club's pursuit of West Bromwich Albion forward Saido Berahino, saying negotiations had reached an impasse. Berahino, who has featured five times for West Brom in all competitions this season and has not played since Sept. 10, has made no secret of his desire to leave the West Midlands club. "It sways from one end of the scale to another to be honest," Hughes told a news conference on Friday. "I said last week that I was more confident that something would be done, but the last few days things haven't really progressed as we would have liked," he added. "There hasn't been much progress for quite some time, but things may change quickly. People seem to be very entrenched in their views, which makes it difficult. It's down to price and other things." Ninth-placed Stoke host sixth-placed Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday. They have not lost a home league game to United since Hughes took charge in May 2013 but Jose Mourinho's team are unbeaten in their last 16 games in all competitions. "My motivation is to win the game for Stoke City irrespective of the opposition," said Hughes, a prolific striker for United in his playing days. "When you go up against United, more often than not, they are the top dogs, and you want to test yourselves against them. "Their team is shaping into a Jose Mourinho side now. From our point of view we can enjoy the game, there is an expectation on United to come here and win, although we want to have something to say about that, just as we have in recent seasons." Forward Bojan Krkic, who has not played much this season, is back in the squad after missing Stoke's 3-1 win over Sunderland last weekend, and Hughes denied that the Spaniard is seeking to leave the club. "We saw something in the press suggesting that Bojan would like to leave, but he hasn't said that to me," the manager added. "He is our player, he is in the squad tomorrow, and I think there have been enquiries but nobody has come in with any bids - which we wouldn't encourage." (Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)