Jermaine Pennant is delighted to have joined what he sees as a strong Stoke squad and not ruling out a permanent stay at the Britannia Stadium.

Pennant joined Stoke on loan from Real Zaragoza until January on transfer deadline day, along with Marc Wilson and Eidur Gudjohnsen.

The Potters had already captured Kenwyne Jones and Jon Walters ahead of the last-gasp action and Pennant was only too happy to join the revolution.

He told Stoke City Player: “My agent always told me Stoke were always interested and tried to sign me last season. But it was literally on the last day.

“I was in Spain watching Sky Sports News and I saw Eidur (Gudjohnsen) had flown into Stoke and I was thinking ‘ that’s a good signing’, but I didn’t know at that time I was on my way there too.

“Then I got the call from my agent and it was a very attractive move and my agent told me Tony Pulis will definitely get the best out of me.”

Pennant is likely to be deployed on the right wing by Pulis and, with a clutch of other new forwards in the squad, the former Liverpool man feels the Potters can make waves in the Premier League.

“We’re looking very strong and this is probably the best Stoke City team the Premier League has ever seen,” added the 27-year-old.

“If you look at the strikeforce there isn’t many better out there, with Kenwyne Jones and Eidur Gudjohnsen. That’s a great frontline and with the new additions like myself, plus Matthew Etherington on the other wing, we’ve got pace.”

Pennant has already spent two days training with his new side and he has been impressed by the facilities at the club’s newly-developed Clayton Woods complex.

“They’ve only been in here a week and it’s an impressive place, just as good as at Arsenal and Liverpool so Stoke are definitely moving in the right direction.

“Now I can’t wait for the first game, if selected or on the bench. I’m usually used to getting abuse but I’m sure now I’m a Stoke player the fans will get behind me all the way.”

New Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has revealed he did not leave Real Madrid a year ago because his wife developed breast cancer.

Holland star Van der Vaart was set to be sold by the Spanish giants last summer but refused to move on while model wife Sylvie was undergoing what proved to be successful treatment.

Van der Vaart also shed light on the discrepancy between Spurs boss Harry Redknapp’s claim that he had been the subject of an £18million bid from Bayern Munich last month, and Real’s insistence that he had not been, by confirming the German giants made an offer for him but that it was not “concrete”.

Atletico Madrid did try to buy the 27-year-old, however, but Real did not want to sell to their city rivals, instead accepting Tottenham’s last-gasp £8million bid on transfer deadline day.

Van der Vaart told Marca: “Thank God my wife is now perfectly okay.

“She had a very serious illness and it is true that she had to be treated at the Clinica Quiron.

“Last season, they wanted me to leave but I couldn’t leave for that reason.

“Now she is well and the only thing that happened was that Madrid wanted to sell and I wanted to get back to enjoying playing football, and Tottenham are a great team that are going to give me the football opportunities that I need.”

Of Bayern’s interest, he added: “The offer from Bayern never ended up being concrete.

“In the end, only Atletico Madrid pushed but neither I nor the club wanted me to go there.”

There have been suggestions new Real boss Jose Mourinho was reluctant to let Van der Vaart leave and that sporting director Jorge Valdano was behind his departure.

Van der Vaart said: “I don’t want to speak badly about anybody – I have too much respect for the club.”

The midfielder added that he would love to return to the Bernabeu in what is Spurs’ debut Champions League season.

“It’s a shame that some Madrid fans were sad that I was sold but I’m sure we will see each other again soon,” he said.

“It would be a dream to go back to the Bernabeu with Tottenham. I would feel at home.

“It was sad for me to leave. I have a lot of good friends in the dressing room. The fans have always treated me well and I have a great opinion of Mourinho. He has won everything.”

Meanwhile, Heurelho Gomes reckons Tottenham’s feelgood factor can help them continue their progress in the Premier League and on into Europe.

Spurs finished fourth last season and Redknapp then safely guided his men into the lucrative group stages of the Champions League and a place among the elite clubs of European football.

When Tottenham’s players return from the international break next weekend, they will be looking to prove a shock 1-0 home defeat to struggling Wigan was a minor blip ahead of the European trip to Werder Bremen and the small matter of a Carling Cup clash against old rivals Arsenal.

Brazil keeper Gomes feels White Hart Lane is a good place to be at the moment.

“I love the atmosphere here,” Gomes said in the September edition of the official club magazine, Hotspur.

“I try to build a good relationship with the supporters because I like to feel together as one with them. They make the club what it is.”

Gomes continued: “We operate in a very good atmosphere and that can only help.

“It ensures team unity and with it a feeling that anything and everything is possible. The team spirit here is great.

“It has to be that way because the Premier League is so tough. You must band together to succeed.”

Frank Lampard has dismissed suggestions Chelsea’s squad is past it – and is adamant there is more to come from the Barclays Premier League champions.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men have started the new campaign the way they finished the last one with three successive victories, including 6-0 demolitions of both West Brom and Wigan while they are yet to concede a goal.

Much has been made of the age of the Blues’ senior men, such as Lampard, 32, captain John Terry, 29, and striker Didier Drogba, who will be 33 in March.

However, England midfielder Lampard – who is currently sidelined by a hernia problem which forced him out of tonight’s opening Euro 2012 qualifier against Bulgaria at Wembley (England 1.25, Bulgaria 12.00, draw 5.50 Full Time Result) – rejects any suggestions the Chelsea players are over the hill.

Speaking to the October edition of the club’s official magazine, Lampard declared: “It is a load of rubbish when I hear talk about there only being one or two years left in our spine. This has been going on for a year or so.

Every year I set my goals again, I don’t lose any ambition or drive.

Frank Lampard

“Sometimes that is mind games from other managers or press talk and we proved them wrong last year.

“We have got players here who are experienced and you can’t buy experience in football – look at Didier, he is a specimen and he will overpower any 24 or 25-year-old.

“People have been waxing lyrical about Paul Scholes, and rightly so, because if you take him out of the United team now, they will want to replace him and they probably won’t be able to.”

Lampard may have a trophy cabinet full of honours, but the former West Ham trainee maintains he is hungry for even more success.

“Every year I set my goals again, I don’t lose any ambition or drive,” Lampard insisted.

“I would love to win the Champions League one day, but I would love to win more Premier League titles as well, so it’s quite easy to self-motivate.

“I think also that, the older you get, the more you appreciate what you have got as a footballer.

“I think it’s one of my strong points that I always want to do more because you don’t play forever.

“If I can keep my level up to the way I am playing now I believe I can go on playing for many more years.”

With 14 goals from the opening three Premier League matches, things are certainly going to plan for Chelsea, who saw experienced midfielders Joe Cole and Michael Ballack leave the club on free transfers during the summer.

“I think our game feels more natural now – you can see that from the way we finished last season and started this one,” Lampard reflected.

“Don’t get me wrong, we had difficult moments last season when it wasn’t flowing, but it became more natural to us and after winning the Double and celebrating that, I think we came back here in the summer wanting to step up again to another level.”

Lampard paid tribute to Ancelotti, who delivered the club a historic Double in his first season.

“The manager is very involved – his method, his training, his personality and his calmness is something the players have related to more and more over the last year or so and that’s making us stronger as a unit,” the midfielder said.

You can back Chelsea to win the Premier League 2010/11 at odds of 2.20, while it’s 6.00 for the Blues to win the UEFA Champions League in 2011.

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Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes believes that the feel-good factor around White Hart Lane can inspire the team to glory both at home and abroad this season.

Tottenham finished fourth in the Premier League last term and secured their place amongst Europe’s elite by qualifying for the Champions League group stages.

Manager Harry Redknapp then managed to secure the signing of Dutch maestro Rafael van der Vaart for an apparent bargain £8million.

When the players return from international duty they will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing home defeat to Wigan in their last match.

They travel to West Brom on Saturday 11th September and Spurs can be backed at 1.90 (Full Time Result) to secure victory, with the Baggies 3.75 and the draw 3.25.

Following the match at the Hawthorns they have the small matter of a European trip to Werder Bremen and a Carling Cup clash against old rivals Arsenal to focus on.

Brazilian keeper Gomes feels White Hart Lane is a good place to be at the moment.

“I love the atmosphere here,” Gomes said in the September edition of the official club magazine Hotspur.

“I try to build a good relationship with the supporters because I like to feel together as one with them. They make the club what it is.”

Gomes continued: “We operate in a very good atmosphere and that can only help.

“It ensures team unity and with it a feeling that anything and everything is possible. The team spirit here is great.

“It has to be that way because the Premier League is so tough. You must band together to succeed.”

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Paul Scholes has revealed he was considering retirement at Christmas last season after a poor run of form for Manchester United.

Scholes is bang in form at the moment and currently one of the most talked about players in the Premier League.

There has been much talk about Fabio Capello’s attempt to talk him out of international retirement, while successive man-of-the-match performances in the Community Shield and Premier League win over Newcastle confirm the 35-year-old is on top form once more.

Yet, while 2010 will go down as one of Scholes’ best years as a professional, 2009 was one of the worst in his eyes.

“At Christmas last season I did not think I would be playing in this one,” he admitted on MUTV.

“I wasn’t playing well enough.

“The season before last I had an injury for three months and then from Christmas onwards my form wasn’t brilliant. Leading up to Christmas last year it still wasn’t great.

“I wasn’t playing as much as I would have liked but you need to be playing well to get into the team.

“I set myself high standards. I want to feel as though I am contributing to the team. If I am not doing that what is the point of being here.”

Fortunately, Sir Alex Ferguson had other ideas.

The United boss reassured Scholes he was still making a valuable contribution to the Red Devils cause and after taking the club to within a point of what would have his 10th Premier League title, Capello made his move.

Scholes has already admitted he regrets saying no to the under-fire England chief but the summer break has at least kept him fresh ahead of a season in which he again expects to be used sparingly.

“The manager has handled me, Ryan and Gary the same way for the last couple of seasons and I am sure this season will be no different,” added Scholes.

“If I am playing well enough, maybe I will play 25 or 30 games.

“You want to play every game but at our age, you can’t.”

Scholes has now sidelined any talk of retirement and intends to keep going as long as he legs can carry him.

Ferguson recently spoke of the possibility United’s ageing heroes could maintain a career at the highest level until they were 40.

Yet even that date is not too far away, leaving the Salford-born star to contemplate what lies ahead.

“I want to stay in football,” he said.

“I started my coaching badges towards the end of last season. Hopefully I can get the first part done at some point this year.”