Former Germany global Effenberg claimed Shaqiri had been “badly advised” by going to Stoke when he could have signed for German club Schalke, who will play in the Europa League this season.
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Shaqiri completed his £12m move to Stoke City this week.
“He has no job at the moment, so he can talk – he’s a free man”, said the 23-year-old.
“Anybody can talk who is free. It’s a shame I can only pick 18 players”.
“I’ll just concentrate on my job”. This is my job.
Shaqiri said: “This is very different to Italian football”.
“Most important is to integrate fast in this team”.
Shaqiri himself laughed off Effenberg’s comments.
And he appeared to be addressing his long-term pursuit of Ukrainian worldwide Yarmolenko when he added: “I think we’ve had a good window up to this point and probably won’t go back into the market unless something exceptional presents itself”.
“We hope that Xherdan can make a huge impact in the Premier League“.
And regarding his brief stint with the Italian outfit, where he was managed by former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini, he said: “There were many things that were not good there”.
Shirt and ticket sales have soared since the Swiss playmaker’s signing was announced and Hughes insists he will “sprinkle some stardust” in the Premier League this season. Why Stoke? The manager spoke to me a lot of times and I like a club that is moving forward.
Meanwhile, Hughes has reported Stoke’s medical team were “very happy” with the back surgery Potters captain Ryan Shawcross underwent this week which is likely to keep him out for between two and three months.
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Shaqiri told the club’s official website, www.stokecityfc.com: “It is very important for me to have the coach behind me showing great belief in me, and Mark Hughes has done that. All clubs want to play in Europe, whether it’s the Champions League or Europa, and that is the target for us”. Peter Odemwingie is also unavailable due to a hamstring strain, while Marko Arnautovic (thigh) and Marc Wilson (knock) are doubts.
