Transfer news: Tom Ince on the verge of £1m loan switch to Crystal Palace, Stoke come in with cash deal

Blackpool ace set to try his hand at Premier League football with Palce

Tom Ince (Getty Images)

It would appear that the Tom Ince transfer saga is nearing its conclusion after Crystal Place agreed a £1m loan package with Blackpool to take the England under-21 winger until the end of the season.

The Guardian report that Ince's contract runs out at the end of the season and, should the Eagles retain their Premier League status, it would appear likely that a permanent deal could follow.

Later in the day, however, a hitch came to light as Stoke City offered Ince a permanent deal to go to the Britannia Stadium.

Tony Pulis, the former Stoke manager, has been striving to complete the move for over a week after the Blackpool ace spoke to a host of clubs including Swansea City and Hull City.

Transfer deadline day January 2014 - LIVE

The London club needed to free up space for Ince - with top-flight rules stipulating that no club may have no more than two domestic loans - by turning Jason Puncheon's loan from Southampton into a £1.7m permanent transfer.

The 22-year-old is taking council from his father Paul, the former manager at Bloomfield Road, and is believed to have entrusted Pulis with his immediate future.

Should the move be completed in the coming hours, it will also allow the time for Pulis to finalise a deal for Wigan Athletic defender Ivan Ramis.