Stoke manager Mark Hughes admits he may have to look elsewhere for a striker due to the lack of progress in his pursuit of West Brom's Saido Berahino.
Sky sources understand the Potters made a £20m bid for the former England Under-21 international in July, with Crystal Palace also submitting an offer worth the same amount.
Hughes remains keen on a deal for Berahino, but accepts he may have to move on in his attempts to sign a striker after failing to agree a fee with West Brom.
"It is no secret that we have made bids and have an interest in Berahino but it is not in our hands," Hughes said.
"He is obviously a player of another club and if they don't want to sell, or have no intention of selling, then there is nothing we can do to affect that.
"We just have to be patient and if the situation changes then we will be ready to sit down and talk, I'm sure, but in the last few weeks that doesn't seem to have moved on to any great extent.
"He is an outstanding young talent but you need a lot of boxes ticked and all the ducks in a row before any deal happens. At the moment that is not where we are.
"If it happens we will be delighted. If it doesn't we will move on to (other) targets that we have."
Stoke signed Wales midfielder Joe Allen from Liverpool in a £13m deal this summer and Hughes remains on the lookout for further additions.
Hughes, whose side open their Premier League campaign at Middlesbrough on Saturday, said: "Our intention is to carry on bringing good players to the club and we are in the mix for a number. Hopefully we can get a couple over the line.
"But this year it was never about wholesale changes. It was more about adding good quality to the quality we already had."