Stoke City are closing in on sealing the transfer from Glasgow Rangers of US midfielder Maurie Edu, with only his work papers standing in the way. Edu has been a long-standing target of Stoke manager Tony Pulis and last weekend agreed terms on a three-year deal. He then passed a medical. The final obstacle was his work permit and, with the club confirming on their official website this morning that the English football authorities have given that the all-clear to proceed with that, the move looks set to go through. Stoke have warned though that the 26-year-old is unlikely to be available for the weekend clash with Wigan owing to the time it would take to complete the paperwork.