Stoke will have to smash their transfer record if they are to bring Rennes midfielder Stephane M'Bia to the Britannia Stadium.

The Cameroon international is believed to have met club officials at the ground on Friday but any deal still appears some distance away.

Mbia has also been linked with Everton and Marseille and his value has been speculated at anything between £6million and £10million.

Potters chairman Peter Coates has confirmed the club have been "monitoring" 23-year-old M'Bia.

But he told the Stoke Sentinel: "If anything does happen, it looks a long way off at the moment."